By M. Reza Behnam, Z Net, July 20, 2026, 7 Mins Read
Source: Originally published by Z. Feel free to share widely.
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President of the United States Donald
Trump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and President of Syria
Ahmed al-Sharaa during Donald Trump’s state visit to Saudi Arabia. US
State Department.
The modern Middle East suffers from a
consequentially glaring paradox: oil-rich Arab states undoubtedly
possess some of the most concentrated geopolitical and economic leverage
on the planet. Yet, they have, since the 1970s, declined to use their
economic indispensability in defense of Palestinian statehood and to
uphold their own sovereignty.
The pivot of Arab Gulf states away from
historical Arab nationalism to Western alignment reflects a fundamental
shift in regional priorities. Arab monarchs have traded their
independence and vast regional clout for Western economic integration,
advanced defense technology and foreign security assurances.
The global community has, for decades,
been led to believe that the path to Palestinian self-determination is a
knot too complex to untangle. The reality, however, is far more
transactional.
The wealthy Gulf capitals and the wider
Arab oil-producing bloc possess four critical pressure points that could
be acted on to force a diplomatic breakthrough or affect meaningful
regional change. None, however, have been employed: 1) oil power; 2)
sovereignty over waterways; 3) petrodollars; and 4) power of the
umma.
Oil Power
In 1973, Arab oil-producers demonstrated
the efficacy of wielding oil as an economic weapon. It was one of those
rare moments when Arab regimes exploited their leverage to challenge
Western imperialism.
After the start of the October 1973
Arab-Israel War between Egypt, Syria and Israel, the Organization of
Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) imposed a total oil embargo
in response to U.S. support for Israel during the war. They demanded that Israel withdraw from Palestinian lands they occupied in the 1967 War.
OAPEC’s collective action caused
shortages, triggered a massive recession and led to a realignment of the
global economy. The embargo generated massive revenue windfalls for
producing states. The sudden influx of capital accelerated the
nationalization of their oil industries, allowing them to gain control
of assets previously held by U.S. and British stakeholders.
Despite the unprecedented wealth gained by
Arab producers, the geopolitical landscape remained unchanged when
OAPEC lifted the embargo in March 1974. Israeli forces remained
entrenched in occupied Palestine.
The weaponization of oil has, since 1973,
been unilaterally retired by Gulf elites. During successive crises,
including the catastrophic destruction and genocide in occupied Gaza and
the West Bank, as well as the current war on non-Arab Iran, they have
explicitly ruled out oil embargoes or production cuts to pressure
Israel’s western enablers.
Rather than utilizing energy as a tool of
opposition to U.S.-Israeli hegemony, Arab regimes have aligned with and
normalized relations with the perpetrators of occupation, apartheid and
genocide.
They have, for example, prioritized
maintaining market predictability and maximizing revenues to fund
domestic mega-ventures and “eco-normalization” energy projects, integrating Israeli infrastructure (in a dominant position) into Arab utility grids and gas imports.
Sovereignty Over Waterways
Some of the most critical maritime corridors
and strategic chokepoints, indispensable to global commerce, are
situated in the Middle East; most notably the Suez Canal, connecting the
Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf
and the Bab al-Mandab in the Red Sea.
The ongoing U.S. Israel war on Iran has
underscored the critical importance of the region’s waterways to global
commerce and how military disruptions can send shockwaves through energy
and financial markets.
In the current asymmetrical war, Iran has
demonstrated how to effectively use a vital waterway as a strategic
tool. It has leveraged the closure and disruption of the Strait of
Hormuz to establish control over the waterway and force major strategic
concessions. Like Iran, Yemen’s Ansar Allah has threatened to
close the Bab al-Mandab—the only entry point to the Red Sea from the
Indian Ocean, which facilitates trade between Asia and Europe.
Major Arab states have not advantaged
their geography to challenge U.S.-Israel regional supremacy. Instead,
they have acted as guardians of the imperial status quo, securing these
indispensable passages to ensure the uninterrupted flow of global
commerce to the very nations underwriting the occupation of Palestine
and genocide in Gaza.
Petrodollars
The structural foundation of America’s
financial dominance has been the “petrodollar”—a decades-old system in
which oil is priced in dollars, with resulting surplus recycled back
into U.S. Treasury bonds and Western financial assets.
In addition to holding the “petrodollar
card,” vast critical energy supplies and pivotal energy chokepoints,
Arab states, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council monarchies
(Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates) control approximately six trillion dollars in sovereign wealth funds in Western markets.
Any coordinated effort to price energy in
alternative currencies, diversify reserve holdings away from the dollar,
or liquidate U.S. Treasuries would pose an existential threat to
Western financial hegemony.
Instead of harnessing their immense
economic and financial wealth to advance regional and Palestinian
interests, Arab regimes continue to park petrodollars in Western
institutions; effectively subsidizing the very financial systems of
countries that have used their United Nations Security Council vetoes to
block Palestinian statehood.
Power of the Umma
The force of the umma—the global community
of Muslims—stems from the powerful concept of unity that transcends
borders. It is sustained by spiritual solidarity rather than military
might or economic dominance. The collective consciousness of the faith
is reflected in the Prophet’s teaching that the umma is one body—when
any limb aches, the whole body feels the pain.
The global Muslim community maintains a
deep solidarity with Palestine, which is intrinsically woven into
Islamic history and spirituality. The conscience of the community has
been awakened by the ongoing atrocities and the suffering inflicted on
the Palestinians and on the destruction of Palestine, revered as sacred
land.
Across the artificial boundaries of the
Middle East, the umma is an ocean of untapped revolutionary power
willing to confront imperialism and the colonial Zionist occupation of
Palestine.
Arab political classes should pay heed
that geopolitical strength stems from regional integration and
solidarity with the umma, not the West. Instead of understanding
Palestine as a unifying force and security imperative, they have used it
as a card to be traded for Washington’s favor. In so doing, they have
sacrificed the moral authority of a righteous cause and converted their
vast geopolitical clout into an instrument of passive complicity and
regime survival, at the expense of liberation, integrity and dignity.
The liberation of Palestine will not be
won by the ink of compromised treaties and flawed diplomacy. Instead it
will be driven by the unified strength, outrage and heartbeat of
millions across the Arab world, who refuse to let artificial borders or
foreign forces dictate the limits of their solidarity.
Following months of deadly U.S. airstrikes
on Iran, Arab states that have hosted American military bases and
provided airspace for the war, are facing retaliatory strikes and severe
economic disruptions.
Caught in the crossfire, they face a
critical choice: submit to continued foreign subjugation or utilize the
collective power and resources they possess to rectify the historical
and ongoing injustice inflicted on Palestinians, rid the region of
destructive foreign meddling and restore dignity to the region.
The Palestinian quest for statehood is not
solely over external occupation; rather, it is about regional
abandonment masked by rhetorical solidarity. By prioritizing regime
survival, lucrative global trade networks and authoritarian stability
over pan-Arab alignment and the Palestinian cause, Arab states have
allowed themselves to become structurally subservient to the
geopolitical dictates of Washington and the strategic ambitions of Tel
Aviv.
The ruling elite across the Arab world
have been blind to the reality that the U.S. and Israel are wedded to
subjugation, not cooperation.
In the final analysis, the black gold that
once promised regional self-determination has instead financed a status
quo of complicity and servitude, leaving the Palestinian cause marooned
on an altar of transactional diplomacy and dynastic preservation.
Dr. Behnam is a political scientist
who specializes in comparative politics with a focus on West Asia. His
“Cultural Foundations of Iranian Politics,” published by University of
Utah Press, and still in print, was recognized by Choice as Outstanding
Academic Book for 1987-1988.
(Photo credit: Getty / Morteza Akhoundi)
