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Bahrain this week hosted an important meeting of NATO and its regional partners to discuss closer cooperation. This was the fifth meeting held by the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Policy Advisory Group since it was established and its first since 2018, reflecting the urgency NATO gives to the Gulf region after the Ukraine conflict.
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative was established at the 2004 NATO Summit in Istanbul to promote security cooperation between the organization and partner countries. Although the original purpose was to include the broader Middle East region, currently only four countries have joined the ICI — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. Other GCC countries participate in selected activities within the ICI framework without formally being part of it.
Activities under the ICI initiative include political and security dialogue, practical cooperation, defense planning, civil preparedness, counterterrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
NATO has applauded the ICI partners’ contributions to NATO-led operations and missions. It cites Bahrain’s contribution to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Kuwait, meanwhile, signed the first ever transit agreement in the Gulf with NATO in 2012, allowing for the movement of military equipment through the country. It is also part of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction mechanism, an international initiative to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean. Qatar participated in Operation Unified Protector in Libya in 2011. The UAE has also contributed substantially to NATO operations and missions over the years, including in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which started in 2003, and joining the International Security Assistance Force in 2008. The UAE also participated in Operation Unified Protector in Libya in 2011.
In recognition of the importance of Kuwait and the Gulf region in general to NATO, the NATO-ICI Regional Center was established in Kuwait City in 2017. It acts as a hub for the enhancement of practical cooperation between NATO and its ICI partners and the GCC region as a whole. According to NATO, the center’s goal is to “improve common understanding of security challenges … increased interoperability and standardization.” It promotes practical cooperation in various areas including strategic analysis, civil preparedness, military-to-military cooperation and public diplomacy. Its activities are open to all countries participating in the ICI, as well as other GCC countries and the GCC Secretariat.
The GCC and NATO have overlapping interests, but they also have differences in their approach to regional crises
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
The Bahrain meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday sought to shore up cooperation between NATO and its ICI partners, but also to the rest of the GCC membership and its institutions. When the GCC was established in 1981, integration between its six member states was its main objective. Since then, the focus of that process has revolved around four main parallel tracks — political, defense, internal security and economic integration — almost in equal measures.
Those four paths of integration intersect during the GCC’s periodic assessments of regional threats and challenges. On Sunday, for example, its regional security team will meet, for the fourth time in the past 12 months, for that purpose.
In the current review of regional security, more than a dozen threats and serious challenges are examined. They include Iran’s nuclear deal, the proliferation of missiles and drones, territorial disputes with Iran, instability in neighboring countries, maritime security, cybersecurity, terrorism, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and human trafficking. Challenges that also affect regional security include climate change, water security, food security and the recurrent spread of pandemics. There are also competing Gulf security concepts that the GCC needs to address.
Most, though not all, of these security concerns intersect with those of NATO, which argues for closer cooperation between the two organizations. NATO has recognized the need to engage with countries outside its membership and, given the GCC states’ strategic importance and geographic location, those countries have figured prominently in its partnership plans with nonmembers. The Ukraine war has added some urgency to NATO’s reaching out to GCC states and others.
There were extensive discussions on enhancing cooperation among ICI partners, which will likely continue within the ICI and NATO institutional setup. In addition, NATO is seeking out wider cooperation with other GCC states that are not currently ICI members and with the GCC organization. The GCC and NATO have been discussing for some time possible formal instruments for cooperation. GCC-NATO cooperation would be in parallel with and not a substitute for cooperation among the current ICI partners, although they will likely overlap at times.
Some of the proposals currently under discussion for GCC-NATO engagement include political dialogue, as both organizations are concerned with regional crises and their spillover effects globally, such as the conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, Palestine/Israel and Syria/Lebanon. Security dialogue is also important, as both are also concerned about Iran’s nuclear program and the proliferation of missiles and drones, cyberwarfare and threats to maritime security and freedom of navigation.
The political and security dialogues being proposed for GCC-NATO are similar to those conducted or planned under the framework of the GCC-EU Strategic Partnership announced in February 2022.
In addition to these dialogues, the GCC and NATO could also consider closer engagement on defense integration modalities, including the GCC’s unified military command. NATO naturally provides a model for the most effective joint command. Another area of cooperation could involve the recently established GCC Strategic and Defense Academy, which will accept its first students in September.
The GCC and NATO have overlapping interests, but they also have differences in their approach to regional crises. To build an effective partnership, open and candid discussions need to take place to address the shared interests, differences and special concerns that each organization may have.
- Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1