Alwaght- The Bahraini capital Manama hosted the very latest summit of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council on December 6 and 7. Attended by the Persian Gulf Arab states and Britain, the two-day summit covered a variety of cases, with a special focus on presenting an unproductive picture of Iran and making claims and accusations against the Islamic Republic� and the Axis of Resistance that it leads� that as before were deemed by Tehran as false and baseless.


Theresa May, British PM, said in the meeting London is trying to boost defense and security cooperation with the Persian Gulf states, adding that the security of the Persian Gulf is Britain�s security.


The very attention-grabbing point about the meeting was that the Arab leaders tried to involve the foreign powers in the regional issues. Actually, through diplomacy and connections the Arabs are eying to build balance of power both among them and with the foreign sides. A tool for such an intra-Council balance is pressing for more convergence to prepare the ground to upgrade (P) GCC to the Persian Gulf Union. On the other side, a foreign balance building is done through paving the way for entry of foreign actors to the region.


This piece highlights the differences between Tehran�s and Arab regime's view to the regional security systems, as well as the reasons behind building internal and foreign-reliant balance of power.


Foreign-reliant vs. self-reliant security systems


The Persian Gulf Arab states since establishment tried to tie their security to foreign powers' presence and military support. The Arab countries of the region find this type of security system as viable and helping them save their regimes in the face of the so-called threatens posed by other powerful regional actors.


Meanwhile, Iran has always been presented, majorly through media, as a country with expansionist intentions. It is the Iranophobia that facilitates presence of the global powers in Persian Gulf region through building their military bases. The Council was even established after Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979, to counter what they called risks coming from this pro-independence revolution.


A majority of the foreign bases are paid for by the Arab leaders out of the belief that these bases make up a good deterrence to the possible threats. Mutual military treaties of the US with the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia come as part of these efforts.


On the other side stands Iran that always calls for regional cooperation and signing a �collective security treaty� with the regional countries. Tehran argues that international actors' presence disrupts security and even deepens gaps between regional sides. �Security of the Persian Gulf is related to the countries of the region that hold common interests and not the US. The security must be provided by Persian Gulf countries,� said Iran's Leader Sayed Ali Khamenei.


Seeking traditional actors' return to Persian Gulf


The Persian Gulf Arab regimes closely watch the US' shifting behavior. For example, Washington has not directly involved in Syria crisis. This sends two signals for them: Washington shifted priority to East Asia and it sees Iran as more efficient than Arab governments in settling regional crises. This is true that the US no longer wants its forces engaged in West Asian conflicts. Instead, the American leaders seek minimized presence and using their proxies.


This pushes Arabs to seek return of other Western actors, those with majorly negative historical record in the region: Britain and France. In fact, nuclear deal with Iran, Washington�s indetermination in Syria case, and failure to remove the Syrian president justify an Arab return to London and Paris renewed role in the region.


Buying security at home and from foreign actors


The Arab leaders seek interweaving each others security and economy in a bid to solidify their regimes in the face of domestic protest movements and foreign threats. This motivates actualization of a �Persian Gulf Union�, a bloc that eyes one security, one currency, and one economy. This bloc is markedly favored by regimes facing a popular uprising, like Bahrain.


Another approach seeks attraction of actors like Britain and France as the US shifts focus from West to East Asia, where China is rising. This approach is realized through economy and security. Economically, the two European powers are provided by advantages. In terms of security, Britain and France have taken their shares: London deals with Iraq and Yemen crisis and France with Syria�s. The final intention of the Arab leaders is a confrontation between these European countries and Iran as part of efforts to hit Tehran�s regional agendas. This comes while Iran insists that sustainable security and economic growth must be a product of comprehensive collaboration between the regional nations.