Afrasianet - Younes Al-Didi - Today, the "Gulf mind" faces its most difficult historical tests, not in the ability to build skyscrapers or lead energy markets, but in the ability to untangle the threads that Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to weave around the region.
This mindset, which has moved from "reaction" to "engineering the future," now understands that the smoke on the horizon is not just a sideline of a regional conflict, but the product of a deliberate attempt to turn Gulf capitals into "political shields" in a major war of attrition.
At this crucial moment, the Gulf mind understands that the occupant of the White House is a guest who is leaving, that Netanyahu is a gambler looking for a lifeline, while geography remains the only fact that cannot be divided into two.
Today, smoke is rising over the Gulf, not only because of passing missiles or maritime threats, but also as a result of a bitter clash between Gulf development ambitions and an explosive geopolitical reality.
For a prime minister who has spent decades mastering the art of political survival, "chaos" is not just a side effect of war, but the "oxygen" he breathes. In Tel Aviv, chaos is a means of postponing internal reckoning, and in major capitals it is a tool to impose unilateral agendas.
But for the Gulf states, the chaos that Netanyahu seeks to perpetuate is nothing more than a carefully designed "attrition trap" designed to set the region back decades, under the pretext of protecting shared security.
Today, smoke rises over the Gulf, not just because of passing missiles or naval threats, but also as a result of a bitter clash between Gulf development ambitions and an explosive geopolitical reality.
Some countries in the region, consciously or not, have engaged in conflicting paths that may have seismic dimensions, and the burning question that the Arab political mind must ask is: Do we buy a temporary security at the expense of our existential stability?
The Attrition Trap: Netanyahu's Great Game
Netanyahu is now seeking to drag the Gulf states into a long-term "war of attrition" against his regional rivals, and his strategy is clear: to transform the Gulf from an "oasis of investment and growth" into a "party to the conflict" that consumes its sovereign wealth and military capabilities.
Weakening the region by making it a backyard for the Israeli-Iranian conflict serves only one purpose: to ensure that no regional power capable of imposing a real balance deviates from Israel's vision. It is an invitation to participate in a fire, the flames of which they claim they alone have the secret to extinguish.
The Gulf mind must remember that if the "smoke" increases, it will obscure the vision of the major development projects that are being worked on, and that protecting the national "visions" requires zeroing in on conflicts.
Geography doesn't leave and white houses change
The great dilemma in traditional political consciousness is the dependence on the vicissitudes of the "street in Washington." So everyone should remember the unmistakable truth: Presidents in the United States come and go at a glance in the age of nations, and the region may find itself today under the protection of an administration that promises a lot, only to wake up tomorrow to an administration that is retreating or changing its compass toward the Pacific.
"Geographic depth" requires the Gulf to build an independent security architecture, based not on fragile real-time alliances, but on "geographic realism" that recognizes that peace with a difficult neighbor, based on equality and mutual respect, is cheaper and more durable than proxy war.
From the "Course of Events" to the "Path of Stability"
"Putting out the smoke" in the Gulf requires exceptional courage in decision-making, and courage here does not mean fighting wars, but rather refusing to be dragged into them. It requires moving from "reaction" to Netanyahu's crises to "action" by opening direct and sober channels of dialogue with Tehran, which put the dots on the letters in the files of sovereignty and interventions, but refuses to turn the region into fuel for a holocaust in which the Gulf has no voice or camels.
Today, the Gulf states, with their economic and diplomatic weight, are capable of being the "engineer" rather than the "contractor." The engineer builds bridges of mutual interests that prevent the explosion, while the contractor refuses to carry out the war projects of others on his own soil.
The Gulf mind must remember that if the "smoke" increases, it will obscure the vision of the major development projects that are being worked on, and that protecting the national "visions" requires zeroing in on conflicts, not importing them. Netanyahu likes chaos because it is his survival, while the Gulf needs stability because it is his future.
The time has come to move away from "pawn for a moment," to shift to "investing in geography," and to build solid alliances with everyone that ensure that the Gulf does not remain hostage to the mood of the occupant of the White House, or to the gamble of a politician in Tel Aviv who sees the fire as his personal salvation.
