The image of the petro-monarchies as safe havens where life is easy and where it’s good to make business, has been definitively ruined after these three weeks of war.
The United States is now perceived by the leaders and populations of these countries (where, however, no one votes) as the primary troublemakers. Along with the Jews. The war was provoked by Donald Trump’s temperament, which Benjamin didn’t need much prodding.
The American bases in the Persian Gulf acted more as magnets for Shahed missiles than they did for the defense of local populations.
The petro-monarchies are more grateful to French aircraft than to the Americans for responding to the missile attacks from the very first day. France is bound to the petro-monarchies by long-standing defense agreements. And it has never launched a war without informing its allies.
The Iranian retaliation devastated the global economy, but especially those of the Gulf states, through its bombing of gas fields in particular. It will take much longer to rebuild all of these infrastuctures than reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The petro-monarchies see themselves as the main victims of a war they didn’t want and against which they warned Donald when they sensed rising tensions.
The Abraham Accords, already weakened by the Hamas bombing of Doha during the Gaza war, are once again being called into question. For the petro-monarchies, they have become paper without value, and they will resume their active financial support for the Palestinians.
The petro-monarchies have everything to lose and nothing to gain by remaining allies of the Israelis—and therefore of the Americans. All of this is the result of the war triggered by Donald Trumpoleon, who is the sole responsible.