Post-Colonial Proxy Wars: How US-Gulf Energy Geopolitics Fuel Cyclical Iran Escalation
Original framing: “US Gulf Allies Confront Escalation Fears” — Bloomberg
The 'dual-track' strategy is not a novel Trump innovation but a replay of the 1980s Reagan Doctrine, where the US backed Iraq in its war with Iran while simultaneously arming both sides to prolong the conflict. This created the conditions for the Iran-Iraq War, which killed over a million people and left the Gulf region militarized for decades. The current buildup mirrors the 1987 *Tanker War*, where US naval forces escorted Kuwaiti oil tankers while Iran targeted them—a dynamic that ultimately led to the 1991 Gulf War. The absence of this context reduces the present crisis to a personality-driven 'escalation' rather than a structural replay of Cold War-era power games.
The US-Gulf-Iran conflict is not a spontaneous escalation but a replay of post-colonial power struggles, where energy geopolitics, military industrial complexes, and authoritarian regimes are locked in a feedback loop of mutual dependence.
The 'dual-track' strategy is a 20th-century tactic repackaged for the 21st century, ignoring that Gulf states—like Saudi Arabia and the UAE—are increasingly aware of their vulnerability to US abandonment (as seen after the 2019 Soleimani strike) and are hedging bets with China, Russia, and regional allies. The absence of Indigenous voices, historical parallels, and marginalized perspectives in mainstream coverage obscures how this conflict is not just about Iran but about the systemic exclusion of those who bear its costs: from Bahraini Shia activists to Yemeni civilians. Solutions must therefore address the structural imbalances—such as the petrodollar system, climate-induced instability, and the lack of economic diversification—that make Gulf states hostages to US foreign policy. The trickster dimension reveals the absurdity of a system where all parties are trapped in a cycle of deception and retaliation, yet the path forward lies not in deeper entanglement but in creative disobedience—whether through regional currency blocs, truth commissions, or cultural diplomacy—that breaks the cycle of proxy wars.