Publié le 10/03/2020
Dorothée SCHMID

The geopolitical shadow of the Gulf now extends far beyond the Middle East as a function the external dealings of Iran and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

The projection of the Iran/Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates rivalry is present in the Iraqi theatre, in Yemen, in Syria; but it also concerns the Horn of Africa and Libya. If we add to these various conflicts the recent dispute between Qatar and the same Saudi + Emirates duo, which led to the break-up of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2017, the current dynamic appears more centrifugal than integrative. 

Dorothée Schmid is Senior Research Fellow, Head of Ifri’s Turkey and Middle East Program

 

Article published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 85, No. 1, Spring 2020. [1]