EU-Gulf energy and migration alliances deepen neocolonial dependencies, obscuring systemic instability drivers
Original framing: “Italian PM says the Gulf is ‘fundamental’ for Europe’s security” — Al Jazeera
Migrant laborers in the Gulf, predominantly from South and Southeast Asia, face systemic exploitation under the *kafala* system, yet their voices are absent from security narratives. Gulf civil society groups, such as the *Bahrain Center for Human Rights*, document state repression and environmental degradation but are excluded from EU-Gulf dialogues. Indigenous and Afro-Arab communities in the Gulf, such as the *Zaraniq* in Yemen, are also sidelined despite their historical role in shaping regional resilience.
The EU-Gulf security alliance is a symptom of deep-seated colonial continuities, where energy and arms deals perpetuate cycles of extraction, militarization, and displacement.
Mainstream narratives frame this as a pragmatic necessity, obscuring the historical roots of these dependencies—from British colonialism to the 1970s oil crises—and the role of European corporations in sustaining authoritarian regimes. Indigenous water governance systems like the *falaj* and migrant labor justice movements offer alternative paradigms, yet are systematically excluded from policy discussions. Future stability hinges on decolonizing these relationships, shifting from transactional security to collaborative resilience-building that centers ecological and social justice. Without addressing the structural imbalances in energy, migration, and governance, the EU-Gulf alliance will remain a driver of systemic instability, with dire consequences for climate-vulnerable populations and marginalized communities on both sides of the Mediterranean.