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The ongoing conflict between the US–Israel alliance and Iran has laid bare a crucial vulnerability for states in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): namely, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. For some, the Strait of Hormuz is more than a shipping route — it is a single point of failure.
The strait serves as the principal corridor for hydrocarbon exports, the backbone of their economies, while also carrying a substantial share of essential imports. And the majority of their drinking water is produced through desalination of Gulf sea water (Kuwait obtains more than 90% of its water in this way, for instance).
This creates a profound systemic fragility. Any disruption, whether through direct targeting of desalination infrastructure or environmental contamination, including potential nuclear contamination, would trigger immediate and cascading consequences that would be devastating.
A strategic reset is needed. The priority must shift from efficiency to resilience by actively reducing single-point failures. That requires rethinking export routes, not just destinations, through expanded pipeline networks that link eastern production to Red Sea outlets through Saudi Arabia, as well as accelerating the long-delayed GCC railway. The existing GCC electricity grid demonstrates that regional integration is feasible; extending this model to water, hydrocarbon transport and strategic reserves is now essential.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
