Debate: To Gulf Arabs, is the US military presence a strategic asset or increasingly a liability?

In June, Iran set a dangerous precedent when it openly attacked a Gulf Arab state in retaliation against the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. This was even though Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base, home to US Central Command forward headquarters, was evacuated. This sequence of events has underscored the vulnerabilities that Gulf Arab states may face due to the American military presence on their territory—even though Washington may carry out offensive operations without using its regional bases.

Ultimately, these dynamics pose the question of whether a US military presence may no longer solely act as a deterrent for Gulf Arab states, but increasingly also a strategic liability—potentially drawing host countries into conflicts not of their choosing. Amwaj.media invited three experts to share their views.

• David Des Roches* is Professor of Practice at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at National Defense University.
  
  
• Dina Esfandiary is the Middle East Geoeconomics Lead for Bloomberg Economics.
  
  
• Mehran Kamrava is Professor of Government at Georgetown University Qatar.

* Remarks do not reflect the views of any agency or body, governmental or otherwise.