Do Not Wait for Anyone When It Comes to Security and Livelihood

Act as others do, and prepare before you are forced to. Europe today is rebuilding its defensive capabilities, expanding its military industries, and enhancing training and coordination, because it has realized that security cannot be built on goodwill alone, and that those who lack the capacity to protect themselves will remain at the mercy of others’ calculations. Here, the Gulf Cooperation Council must ask clearly: If Europe is preparing while far from war, why should the Gulf not be more prepared while standing next to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints?

Protecting navigation and energy infrastructure, strengthening air and missile defense, and unifying Gulf training and coordination are not merely displays of power; they are tools to safeguard economies and livelihoods, and to prevent any party from turning vital passages into instruments of pressure. History offers clear lessons. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. military readiness and the ability to deter raised the cost of escalation, leading to the resolution of the crisis with the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. After gaining independence, Singapore recognized that its security could not remain hostage to foreign power, so it built its armed forces, developed training, and instituted national service. Switzerland, despite declaring neutrality in World War I, mobilized its forces to protect its borders and independence. The lesson is uniform: a state that desires peace needs strength to defend it; a state that seeks to protect its economy needs strength to safeguard its energy, ports, and vital passages.

The Gulf should not build its security on the assumption that alliances will remain unchanged, as international interests shift and priorities evolve. We do not want war, nor do we call for it; rather, we seek peace underpinned by deterrence. Strength is not aggression, preparedness is not recklessness, and deterrence is not a call to war. Strength means ensuring that any party contemplating aggression knows that the cost of aggression will exceed any potential gain. From this, the Gulf’s message must be clear: We will not wait for threats to reach our doors; we will not leave our peoples’ security hostage to circumstances; and we will not allow our livelihoods, interests, and vital passages to become leverage in the hands of any power.

Those who prepare today protect themselves tomorrow; those who wait until a crisis begins may find insufficient time to prepare. The world does not cease preparing because peace exists; rather, states prepare to keep peace intact. The Gulf is not required to ignite a war, but is obligated to be capable of preventing it. When strength is unified, capability is ready, and resolve is cohesive, aggression becomes more difficult and peace more secure. Do not wait for someone to come and rescue you when a crisis starts; prepare before it begins. Unify your strength. Safeguard your security. Preserve the livelihoods of your peoples. For he who possesses his strength possesses his decision, and he who possesses his decision can protect his land, his security, and his future.