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INTERVIEW

Emile Hokayem: ‘The Gulf states face a strategic dilemma’

While the consequences of the US disengagement, the war in Ukraine and the Saudi-Iranian détente are partly reshuffling the cards of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, intra-Gulf competition is accelerating against a backdrop of rivalry between the two reformist rulers, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

Emile Hokayem, the director of regional security and senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, spoke to L’Orient-Le Jour about the implications of these internal and external changes.

Emile Hokayem: ‘The Gulf states face a strategic dilemma’

Emile Hokayem, director of regional studies and the Middle East program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. (Credit: DR)

They see more opportunities than risks. They believe that the unipolar era is over, and that they must at all costs avoid a bipolar era that will force them to make major geostrategic and geo-economic choices. So it is better to start working...
They see more opportunities than risks. They believe that the unipolar era is over, and that they must at all costs avoid a bipolar era that will force them to make major geostrategic and geo-economic choices. So it is better to start working...