EN
FR
Dr. Adnan Mansour,
Beirut – Is it merely a coincidence that, for over thirty years, numerous Arab countries have witnessed, one after another, internal and external wars fueled by international and regional actors, claiming the lives of tens of thousands, leaving even more wounded, destroying entire cities and villages, and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians? It is an unending hemorrhage of Arab blood, a consequence of divisions, wars, and internal conflicts, not to mention the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli army in Arab territories.
These bloody wars have spread from Somalia and Libya, through Sudan, Yemen, Gaza, and the West Bank, to Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq! Is the Arab world, and the Middle East in particular, destined to remain fuel for wars, chaos, and infighting? Why do most countries in the world enjoy security and stability, while West Asia remains a fertile ground for civil and regional wars, and conflicts among the people of the same nation?
Who supports and fuels these wars with money and weapons? Are the West, along with Israel, truly innocent of inciting religious, national, sectarian, and ethnic tensions, fueling unrest, and providing direct and indirect support to the parties involved in the conflict? Do the leaders of West Asian countries understand the magnitude of the repercussions of Israeli aggression and the dangers it poses to the region’s countries and their people? Do Arabs realize the future expansionist plans Israel’s policies hold for their homelands? Why does the West prefer that the Middle East remain a hotbed of conflict and war, while Israel strikes and expands? What is the purpose of Arab countries purchasing enormous quantities of weapons when they are incapable of fortifying their countries and protecting their national security?
A look at Arab countries’ arms imports reveals the scale of their enormous military spending, which reached $137 billion last year, representing 43% of the value of US arms exports worldwide, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Between 2000 and 2010, Arab military spending reached $582 billion, rising to $1.22 trillion between 2010 and 2019. Military spending between 2020 and 2024 reached approximately $626 billion. Thus, total Arab spending on arms purchases between 2000 and 2024 reached $2.439 trillion at current annual prices! Between 2021 and 2025, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait together accounted for 20% of total major global arms imports.
The United States alone exported 54% of arms to the region, followed by Italy at 13%, France at 11%, and Germany at 7%. This means that a significant portion of military spending fuels the American and European economies! Last year, Saudi Arabia’s military spending reached $83.2 billion, Israel’s $48.3 billion, Algeria’s $25 billion, Kuwait’s $8.1 billion, and Iran’s $7.4 billion! It is noteworthy that Iran, despite its military spending being significantly less than that of Saudi Arabia and Israel, has managed to develop military capabilities that seem disproportionate to its reported expenditure, particularly in the areas of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and unconventional naval capabilities.
This raises a fundamental question: Has this massive military spending preserved the sovereignty of Arab countries and their independent decision-making, and prevented Western interference in their affairs? Has this armament stopped Israel’s continued occupation and expansion into Arab lands? Has it halted the drift toward normalization with Israel, while Arab blood continues to be spilled by the occupation army?
Whose interests are served by these enormous sums of money spent on weapons? Whose interests are served? And against whom? Who is the true enemy of our countries and peoples, and who is the imaginary enemy portrayed as the real one? Has the Arab-Arab “competition,” and the accompanying support for warring armed factions, been able to preserve the sovereignty and unity of Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq?
Have Arab states, with their vast military and financial resources, been able to protect the rights of the Palestinians and stop the massacres and Israeli attacks against them and the Lebanese? Whose interests do these wars, which consume everything in their path, serve? Isn’t it in the interest of arms-exporting countries for conflicts and civil wars to continue, so that arms markets don’t lose their sales? Isn’t it legitimate to question the relationship between the economic interests of the arms industry and the continuation of armed conflicts in West Asia? Has the massive military arsenal of Arab states provided them with independent national and sovereign decision-making, free from external dictates, pressures, and directives? Isn’t it in the interest of Western powers for regional and civil wars in our region to continue, even to fuel and intensify them, to feed their markets and consume more weapons?
The continuation of these wars raises serious questions about the intertwining of the economic and strategic interests of international powers with the ongoing conflicts. Peace, stability, genuine sovereignty, and independent national decision-making are fundamentally at odds with the calculations of powers seeking to bolster their political, economic, and military influence.
In this context, the responsibility of international powers, foremost among them the United States, for their policies and stances in the region becomes clear, as does Israel’s responsibility for the occupation, aggression, and expansion into Arab lands. The danger of these policies is amplified when international institutions, particularly the United Nations and the Security Council, fail to put an end to wars and violations and to protect civilians.
Can Arab states rely on the United States absolutely, or must they realize that Washington’s strategic interests take precedence over alliances and promises at critical junctures? How can the region’s wealth and resources be held hostage by influential powers under the pretext of defending, protecting, and safeguarding the region’s security?
On whom do the Arabs rely, and on whom do they depend? On Washington, which does not guarantee Arab interests in all circumstances, or on “Israel,” whose expansionist policies and aggressions remain a source of concern and threat to the countries of the region?!
At the Global Security Forum held in Qatar on October 20, 2026, the US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Presidential Envoy to Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, delivered important messages regarding the US role in the Middle East, the potential conflict with Iran, and the security of the Gulf states. Barrack emphasized that the United States would remain in the Middle East while reassessing the nature of its role, and that regional states were increasingly aware they could no longer rely on Washington to solve all their problems. This did not imply a military withdrawal from the region, but rather a greater responsibility for regional states’ security, while Washington maintained its influence and military bases. Barrack argued that Washington, which had guaranteed international security for eighty years, could no longer fulfill this role in the same way.
This meant that the US, which had participated in 23 regime change operations in the Middle East—as Barrack noted—had come to realize that intervening to change regimes and individuals was often a mistake, leading Washington to reconsider its role as a security guarantor. Therefore, the Gulf states must assume greater responsibility for their own security, strengthen their independent defense capabilities, and establish regional security arrangements. Barak stated that Washington seeks a negotiated settlement to the problems, as military escalation does not guarantee a sustainable political solution.
However, America will not withdraw from the region nor abandon its allies. Rather, it will maintain its influence in the region while minimizing the cost of direct intervention. Regional powers must bear responsibility for their own security, and America’s military presence, political influence, and arming of its allies will remain powerful and influential elements in the security decisions of the region’s countries. Thus, the equation remains: distributing the financial and military burdens among the countries, while Washington retains its influence and ability to intervene when necessary.
What about Israel, which, in the eyes of some Arabs, has transformed from an enemy into a friend and partner with whom they seek integration, while Iran has become, in their view, an enemy that must be confronted? Today, we are facing a new regional situation in which dangerous political projects and dubious alliances are being proposed, one example of which is the “Abrahamic Era.” The real challenge lies in confronting American influence and the Israeli occupation, and halting Western interference that violates the sovereignty of the region’s countries, drains their resources and wealth, and makes their security dependent on hegemonic powers.
The Arab world today lives in a deteriorating reality, threatened with further fragmentation and weakness, as long as its policies and strategic decisions serve the directives, orders, and interests of Western powers! The region’s leaders bear a historical responsibility to safeguard the region’s national security, resolve disputes among its countries, and strengthen trust between them, so that the region does not remain a source of energy and resources for the West to exploit, and so that its hegemony and wars do not continue to plague our lands.
*Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
Source: https://www.theinteldrop.org
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