Japan's increasing regional role coupled with Gulf Arabs who eye an elevated role in Iraq in order to counter Shi'ite Iran is a positive regional development. Sunni Arab governments who supported and funded Iraq's 1980-1988 war against Iran have been reticent be get involved but they are currently seeking to increase their involvement with the Shi'ite Iraqi government. No Arab ambassador has been stationed in Iraq since Egypt's envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.
However, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan on Thursday became the first Gulf Arab foreign minister to visit Iraq since the war.
In fact, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have all recently pledged to reopen their embassies and appoint ambassadors to Baghdad amid U.S. pressure to bolster the Iraqi government. The Gulf Arabs apparently feel that the government has not done enough on political reconciliation, on disarming militias and on bringing back Sunni elements to the ruling structure," stated Christian Koch, Director of International Studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre.
Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.