Via Kristian Coates Ulrichsen in agsiw.org: For officials in the Gulf states, such heavy investment in diplomatic initiatives reflects (and supports) the focus on economic growth, rather than political confrontation, and an emphasis on “de-risking” regional dynamics that might jeopardize the major projects underway across the region. This is especially the case in Saudi Arabia, where several of the gigaprojects so closely associated with Vision 2030 move into delivery phases, but also in Qatar, where the search for a post-2022 World Cup bounce continues, and other states, such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman, as they begin to navigate global energy transitions. There is no appetite for a renewed standoff with Iran amid a pragmatic management of the threat posed by regional affiliates of the “axis of resistance,” as evidenced by the Gulf states’ careful avoidance of any role in the airstrikes led by the United States and United Kingdom against Houthi positions in Yemen that began in January.
