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The Gulf Arab states will welcome the end of Obama's administration. But there are no guarantees that Trump will be a better partner.
It is unfathomable to continue governing the Gulf states without some form of citizen participation in the legislature. Also, there is mounting international criticism of these Gulf states, who value their reputations greatly.
Today the Gulf States have reached a political stalemate. Political Islam, playing right into the hands of the governments, has caused damage to the cause of secular reformists throughout the region.
In the wake of the Arab uprisings some governments may have changed but the challenges remain the same. The recent rise to power of untested Islamist political parties means that they will have to tackle issues for which previous governments have failed to find solutions.
Do the Gulf States expect anything at all from the next president of the US?
The military and security apparatuses of these Gulf states plays a role in keeping the peace, but the best way forward is to build a civil society that is bound by a unifying mechanism such as a functioning, representative, elected parliament.
The inspiring Arab protesters of 2011 bring hope that the tragic cycle of animosity opened by 9/11 can end, says Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi.
