World Politics Review quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the decision at the annual Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Doha to increase security cooperation in the Gulf:
But closing ranks may have little to do with the oil shocks, says Bilal Y. Saab, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “While the falling price of oil is certainly a concern, it is most likely temporary, and in my opinion not the reason why Gulf leaders came together and agreed on a range of issues.” He adds, “GCC states are not equally affected by this development, and Qatar is the least vulnerable to dropping oil prices.”
[…]
But for all the Gulf’s ambitions, there is plenty of reason for pause. “I don’t want to completely pooh-pooh this new initiative, but I am still not a strong believer in the Gulf States’ sharing of intelligence and pooling of resources, which is key to anything joint, be it hard defense or internal security,” Saab says.