Events in the Middle East made Donald Trump talk about the inclusion of some Middle Eastern states in the NATO bloc. But the European members of the alliance will hardly agree with such plans of the American president..
Currently, NATO includes only one with a territorial part in Asia. This is Turkey. Even longtime U.S. ally Israel is not a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, not to mention other US regional allies like Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, changing situation in the Middle East, Russia's active participation in Middle East politics and the deterioration of US relations with Turkey make the American leadership think about either the inclusion of some Arab states in NATO, or the creation of an alternative military-political alliance in the region.
Europe will not want to see the Saudis in the NATO bloc
Since the Cold War, U.S. allies in the Middle East, besides Turkey, are at least six Arab monarchies, located on the Arabian Peninsula. This is Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman.
The preservation of forms of government and social order in these countries was the result of the purposeful policies of the United States and Great Britain., who were terrified of the spread of leftist ideas in the Arabian Peninsula and the oil-bearing states falling under Soviet influence.
But it is precisely the features of government and social structure of the listed states and, first of all, Saudi Arabia, can become one of the main obstacles to their entry into NATO. If the US is guided by, first of all, their pragmatic interests, then in the European Union more attention is paid to the ideological component. European countries have claims even to Turkey, which is relatively secular by Eastern standards., especially after Recep Erdogan came to power, what to say about Saudi Arabia or Qatar.
Status of women, ethno-confessional minorities, reprisals against oppositionists, the general level of democratic freedoms and human rights will become a stumbling block on the way to the entry of Arab monarchies into the North Atlantic Alliance. It's clear, that these countries will never share Euro-Atlantic values, which are the ideological foundation of the bloc. Especially, that after the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the degree of confidence in the United States among European countries decreased.
Respectively, the inclusion of Arab monarchies in NATO is hardly possible, but on the other hand, the formation of a regional military-political bloc under the auspices of the United States looks quite real, which would include the Arab monarchies.
Lack of strength – the main disadvantage of the United States' Arab allies
The disadvantage of this block is that, that almost all of its participants are dwarf states with very small armies. Exception - Saudi Arabia, but its armed forces are not so efficient, as shown by the conflict in Yemen. But apart from the monarchies of the peninsula, there is essentially no one to involve in the US bloc. Iraq - under Iranian influence, and we are too torn apart by internal conflicts.
States can try to include Jordan - another Arab monarchy, but the Hashemite kingdom also lacks human resources, nor great military and economic power. In theory, the alliance could strengthen Egypt, but the question is, that Cairo, maneuvering between the USA and Russia, hardly wants to openly stand on one side now, and even tying ourselves to allied military obligations.
What is Iran's air defense forces, and why they shot down Ukrainian "Boeing"
Finally, there is one more side to the question. Even the Arab monarchies themselves, especially Saudi Arabia, claiming to be the leader of the Islamic world, at least – its Sunni part, may refuse Trump's offer.
After all, participation in a military-political alliance with the United States, especially, when it comes to joining NATO, can seriously damage the reputation of the kingdom, and other monarchies in the region, in the eyes of hundreds of millions of Muslims on the planet. American imperialism is still perceived by most people in Asia and Africa as an absolute evil, and American and European values - as sinful, extremely alien, and if the Arab monarchies are officially allies of the United States and European NATO countries, then the hostility towards them will increase significantly.
Ilya Polonsky
