WE do not need to wonder any longer what it must be like to live through a world war. A statement like this may have seemed hyperbole mere weeks ago but it no longer does. Before our eyes we see bombs, burning buildings and scurrying citizens. Ships are being sunk, swarms of drones being deployed, and barrages of ballistic missiles being launched. The bombing of an oil refinery near Tehran covered the city in slick black oil. The scene seems almost metaphorical — how oil has cursed those who have it and those who do not.

Analysts are offering insights into the ‘game’ that is afoot with major powers, Russia and China, watching in the wings as the US sinks billions it cannot afford into a war that few Americans support. Strategic calculations point to a sobering truth: the Middle Eastern landscape has changed forever. The myths of who is safe, who is right, who is a friend or foe have altered. The central focus may be on the US, Israel and Iran but the unexpected costs will likely accrue in places that once believed themselves above the squabbles and wars of the region.

One of the biggest losers will undoubtedly be the GCC countries which, despite a tumultuous past, had positioned themselves as impermeable to the vagaries of........

© Dawn