Arab-Islamic summit in Qatar: the U.S. loses its monopoly status as security guarantor for Gulf monarchies

On September 15, 2025, an extraordinary joint session of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was held in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The summit, attended by representatives of about 60 states, became a simultaneous demonstration of solidarity by representatives of the Islamic world with Doha after Israel’s airstrike on Hamas political leadership representatives located in Qatar, as well as an attempt to develop a future security model in the Middle East.

The IDF attack on Qatar, which is the main US ally outside NATO and a state on whose territory the forward headquarters of US Central Command (CENTCOM), the headquarters of US Air Forces Central Command, and about 10,000 US military personnel are located, became a direct challenge to Washington’s authority among the Gulf states.