The Growing Connectivity Between the Gulf and East Asia

Links between the two regions are mainly economic, but there are emerging signs of security cooperation.

Such a climate makes the likelihood of a free trade agreement between Asian countries and the GCC all but dead. The exception to this is Singapore, which along with the European Free Trade Area , account for the only two FTAs with the GCC. Although talks took place between the GCC and China and India before 2017, they broke down because the Asian giants want to maintain tariffs on petrochemical products.


Beyond economic exchange, the Gulf and Asia are also becoming more connected on security matters. But in this area the presence of the United States, as the regional hegemon, remains an important consideration.
The Middle East as a whole is becoming an increasingly contested space. Previously unchallenged American supremacy has begun to be questioned by the rise of other powers, like Russia; regional rivalries, like that between Saudi Arabia and Iran; as well as fractured states and societies, as seen in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

This article was written by Guy Burton 

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