The myth of Gulf exceptionalism and US protection is over
Submitted by Hind Al Ansari on Tue, 05/05/2026 - 21:18
The Iran war has reduced these nations to collateral damage in a war they hoped their alliances would keep at bay
The Dubai skyline is pictured as a smoke plume rises from a fire near the city’s international airport, amid Iranian attacks across the Gulf, on 16 March 2026 (AFP) On Growing up in Doha, Qatar, during the 1990s and 2000s, I recall how the presence of US troops in public spaces would puncture the rhythm of normality. While the country has always been diverse, with people passing through and blending into the background, American soldiers never quite could.
Their visibility was hard to ignore. I saw them in malls and supermarkets, their wrinkled shirts tucked into jeans that sat just below their stomachs. I remember seeing massive sleeve tattoos, and caps pulled low with Oakley sunglasses on top.
At the time, I did not really understand what I was seeing. I do not recall when I first learned about US bases or their function. But even as a child, the presence of these soldiers felt different, almost theatrical. They moved through public spaces with an ease that bordered on entitlement.
It would be years before I understood that what I was observing was not incidental, but part of a broader belief system about protection and stability in the Gulf.
Before the onset of Operation Epic Fury, Gulf exceptionalism was widely understood as this region’s perceived insulation from the calamities of war and internal rifts experienced by neighbouring countries. This was attributed not only to the steadfastness of the Gulf’s domestic political and social systems, but also - perhaps more significantly - to their strategic alliances, investments and security arrangements with western powers, especially the US.
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Despite the unpredictability of their geopolitical environment, the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have always taken pride in their own safety and stability, leveraging this image as part of their global brand, particularly in the West.
The presence of US bases across the Gulf both reinforced the sense of guaranteed protection, and cultivated the expectation that rivals would think twice before launching an incursion.
Today, these notions have been fundamentally and indefinitely challenged, as Gulf states find themselves reduced to collateral damage in a war they hoped their alliances would keep at bay.
Conspicuous silence
The bitter reality - that no American or western politician is coming to the rescue - is a hard pill to swallow for many in the Gulf. These same politicians once enjoyed unparalleled hospitality during their visits to the region, and GCC states have spent many years lobbying Washington’s most influential figures.
The conspicuous western silence comes as GCC states continue to pay the biggest costs for the US-Israeli war on Iran. Yet for those who have always been sceptical of these so-called alliances, this moment validates a central truth: proximity to power has never been a guarantee of protection.
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One of the most striking examples of this dynamic is the approach by GCC states towards US President Donald Trump, an unapologetically transactional, business-driven politician. He received an extravagant reception during his visit to the region last year.
While the world was always happy to accept the Gulf's hospitality and its oil, it never truly extended its sense of humanity to the people living there
American media quickly acknowledged the strategic thinking behind these lavish ceremonies, which highlighted the extent to which Gulf leaders were willing to court the Trump administration.
But the limits of this carefully curated relationship became impossible to ignore on 28 February, when the US and Israel launched their assault on Iran, dragging the GCC states and their inhabitants into the trenches of a war they never signed up for.
Gulf governments have expressed frustration over Washington’s failure to provide a timely warning ahead of the war - time that could have allowed them to prepare defensive measures alongside their American partners.
As the war escalated, American personnel and diplomatic staff began to evacuate, leaving the Gulf states exposed to a hail of Iranian missiles and drones. When the fruits of their partnership were needed the most, the GCC states were not treated as US allies worthy of protection. They instead became expendable spaces within a theatre of war.
The situation has laid bare the asymmetrical nature of this alliance, where one side leverages the partnership to reinforce its regional ambitions and dominance, while the other pays an astronomical price.
Dehumanising logic
As GCC governments reassess their security measures for the day after the war, a growing number of public figures in the Gulf have become more vocal in calling out the dehumanising logic that underpins the American-Israeli calculus.
Nayef bin Nahar, a Qatari academic, captured the frustration in a critical post on X (formerly Twitter), noting that Trump had left the Gulf states to “face their fate alone” against Iran’s missiles. In Trump’s eyes, he added, Gulf societies “are barely worth a single barrel of crude”.
This critique is less a revelation, and more a reflection of a deeper structural issue in the region.
The marginalisation of Gulf societies within policy networks, public institutions and academic discourse has reduced the region to a strategic geographical landscape, rather than a social space inhabited by diverse communities. In this context, the lived experiences of people are flattened and overshadowed by a preoccupation with natural resources, petrodollars and strategic positioning.
GCC policymakers have long acknowledged this very issue, investing heavily in soft-power initiatives - mainly in the West, but also globally - to reintroduce themselves on their own terms, hoping to challenge the ignorant caricatures about oil wealth, desert life and terrorism perpetuated by Hollywood.
By humanising Gulf societies, these projects have aimed to demonstrate the cultural dynamism shaping the lives of millions of people across the region. But today, we are seeing the limits of such strategies.
While the scale of human suffering in the Gulf is not comparable to that in Iran, the region’s collective grief still matters - but it will not elicit any tangible acts of solidarity. We will likely never see a GCC country’s flag in anti-war demonstrations, nor any pleas for their protection on Capitol Hill.
Instead, these nations have been reduced to subjects of political commentary and criticism.
Turning point
Various leftists on social media expressed glee while watching footage of Iranian missiles and drones pounding what they consider to be US “vassal states”. Some even framed the targeting of oil and gas infrastructure not as a tragedy, but as a reminder that Gulf leaders could have weaponised their natural resources to halt Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Has US war on Iran killed the 'Gulf moment'? Read More »
On the right, criticism took a different turn. Echoing the hawkish rhetoric of US Senator Lindsey Graham, these voices condemned the GCC’s defensive-only posture, and demanded an active offensive partnership, which the Gulf is unwilling to provide.
Ultimately, the events since 28 February have revealed that Gulf exceptionalism was always a fragile illusion. For years, the region had bet on the idea that if it invested enough in western capitals and built enough soft-power bridges, it would be seen as an indispensable ally. But as the missiles fell, the sense of guaranteed protection crumbled.
The harsh truth is that while the world was always happy to accept the Gulf’s hospitality and its oil, it never truly extended its sense of humanity to the people living there.
This moment must be a turning point - a wakeup call that true security can’t be bought through lobbying or proximity to American power. Moving forward, the GCC must look inwards, and towards the region, to find a different kind of stability; one that doesn’t rely on being a strategic landscape for others.
The myth of being protected from the outside is over. The real task now is to build a future where our societies are no longer treated as expendable backdrops for someone else’s war.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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