Has US war on Iran killed the 'Gulf moment'?

Has US war on Iran killed the 'Gulf moment'? Submitted by Christian Henderson on Thu, 04/02/2026 - 20:06 The strategic integration of GCC states within the global economy is facing its most severe test yet Smoke rises from a ship after an attack near the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, on 11 March 2026 (Royal Thai Navy/AFP) On In 2018, Emirati academic Abdulkhaleq Abdulla published a book titled The Gulf Moment , arguing that states such as the UAE , Qatar and Saudi Arabia had eclipsed countries such as Egypt and Iraq - the historical core of the region - and were now projecting political, economic and cultural power on the world stage. Central to this transformation, he argued, was the deep integration of Gulf states within the global economy.