How war could redraw the Gulf monarchies' map (Part 1) If the US and #Israel sustain their aggression against Iran—complete with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—for just a few more months, the geopolitical map of the Gulf will be unrecognizab...
...as accounts for 70% of state income) but an industrial catastrophe, as drilling rigs left idle risk becoming unusable. With its only logistical lifeline being the Saudi border, a desperate Doha will have no option but to fold into the Kingdom. Bahrain: connected to the mainland by a single 27-km King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia, an attack on that artery would leave the island completely isolated from the other monarchies. With a Shiite majority already resentful of Sunni elite privilege...
..., logistics failure may ignite a revolution. As the result, #Iran might gain a new, dedicated ally within the region. Kuwait: the ruling clans deny it, but Kuwait was part of the former Ottoman Al-Basra province. With the Gulf sealed off, Kuwait’s trade must revert to those ancient overland routes through Basra. At least, it becomes an Iraqi vassal then. Oman: bordering Iran across the Strait, it is paradoxically insulated from the chaos. Its major ports, Duqm and Muscat, lie outside the ...