No bold results in Persian Gulf leaders’ summit with Obama

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and Arab leaders on Thursday agreed to several tactical steps toward strengthening Middle East security but stopped short of a bold new agreement to confront the region’s chaos.

The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat, which had been scheduled with high hopes, drew to a bureaucratic close as the six Persian Gulf leaders left only with general agreements that the U.S. will expand joint military exercises and otherwise collaborate more fully on shared interests.

In a joint statement, the leaders announced a commitment to closer relations on security and other issues. Obama assured leaders that the U.S. will protect the gulf states, but the commitment essentially restates promises he made before and lacks the binding force of a treaty.

“I am reaffirming our ironclad commitment to the security of our gulf partners,” Obama said. “In the event of such aggression or the threat of such aggression, the United States stands ready to work with our GCC partners to urgently determine what actions may be appropriate, using the means at our collective disposal, including the potential use of military force for the defense of our GCC partners. And let me underscore – the United States keeps our commitments.”

Amid the boiling chaos of the region, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates had hoped for more. When the summit was announced a few weeks ago, some analysts even predicted it could be a historic pivot point in the relationship of allies who have been trying to preserve stability in the region for decades.

As the leaders met with Obama in the woodsy presidential retreat, though, various conflicts simmered back home. A top member of the Iranian parliament called Saudi King Salman a traitor to Islam for his airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia that has taken over much of Yemen. The Saudis, in turn, accused the Yemeni rebels of violating a humanitarian cease-fire.

In an acknowledgment that the U.S. has a stake in such military actions, a joint statement from the leaders after the summit said the gulf leaders will consult with the U.S. when planning to take military action beyond their borders – a sign that Obama raised objections to the way the Saudis embarked on that campaign in Yemen with no notice.

Over time, the summit could come to look more significant if the two sides follow through with steps to tighten cooperation against threats from Iran and terrorist groups, said Brian Katulis, a Mideast specialist at the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration.

“Expectations have gotten so low,” he said, but the agreements, in areas of cyberwarfare, counterterrorism, maritime operations, missile defense and border security, could still have some effect. The U.S. pledged to fast-track arms transfers, for example.