Gulf Roundtable: U.S.-Gulf Relations in 2014
President Obama’s foreign policy doctrine appears to be at variance with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries’ strategic vision for the Middle East, according to Ambassador James Larocco. Larocco is former director of the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and a veteran diplomat. He spoke at a Gulf Roundtable entitled “U.S.-Gulf Relations in 2014” on January 15, 2014.
The GCC will continue to be of critical importance to the United States, Larocco argued, but Gulf states need to understand the limits of what the United States is willing and able to do in the region. In Larocco’s opinion, the U.S. commitment to its Gulf allies will not waver, although the United States and Gulf states will continue to hold divergent views of how to address a range of issues including the conflict in Syria, negotiations with Iran, and political transition in Egypt.
