The Gulf: Mediation has become unappealing RIYADH—Causalities are a tragic inevitability of war, and diplomacy in the region is now one of them. Despite the immense investment in rapprochement over the past years, this war and the unfolding events associated with it indicate that the region has entered a post-rapprochement era and is heading toward calculated militarization. The Arab Gulf states have been restructuring their respective economies in the hopes of making them more diversified and attractive for tourism and investment. These states knew this could not happen in a turbulent region. Given US reluctance to provide security guarantees for Arab Gulf states, Gulf-Iran rapprochement was necessary. This rapprochement was a laborious and taxing psychological approach, akin to a psychologist dealing with a traumatized patient with violent outbursts. But there was a genuine conviction that dialogue was the best way of achieving Gulf security. That approach is now upended. What compounds this dilemma is that both Iran and Arab Gulf states, especially the mediators (Oman and Qatar), believe that mediation has caused more insecurity for them, whether in the form of Israeli strikes on Doha in September 2025 or the strikes on Oman on Sunday or Iran being struck twice as negotiations were taking place. Mediation—particularly involving Iran and Israel—has become unappealing. A post-Khamenei Iran that will most likely be confrontational is emerging in tandem with the Arab Gulf states recalculating their approach toward Iran. As a result, the mode of diplomacy in Arab Gulf states will be far more proactive in building their deterrence via capabilities rather than alliances. — @AzizAlghashian is a senior nonresident fellow at the Gulf International Forum.

As Syria’s indirect electoral process gets underway, the Syrian authorities and civil society should take three steps to increase women’s chances in this process, writes @MarieForestier. Read more below: bit.ly/42vtH1R