The UAE recently announced the setting up of a joint committee for cooperation and coordination with Saudi Arabia, covering all military, political and economic aspects. Chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, it takes UAE-Saudi relations to new heights and bridging huge gaps the Gulf had been suffering from since 2003.

Such cooperation will, definitely, bring about significant changes in the balance of power on all strategic, economic, political and military levels in the Gulf in particular and the Middle East in general. Economically, the $1 trillion economies of the two will benefit from closer integration and together becoming one of the top 15 economies in the world. This creates a powerful economic bloc backed by natural wealth and human resources as well as investment opportunities, and economic management that looks to the future confidently and moves towards it firmly.

The UAE-Saudi coordination will undoubtedly provide a solid basis for growth at a faster pace, and likely to place them among the Top 10 global economies over the next decade. This takes into account the volume of investments on various projects announced and joint ventures to be implemented as part of the newly created committee.

Strategically, the Gulf and over the past 15 years has been suffering from serious instability due to an imbalance of power especially after the US intervention to Iraq.

This has led Iran, which saw itself at the centre of power, to provoke sectarian strife, fund militias and terrorist organisations and tamper with the stability of the Gulf at a time when the GCC has not been able to fill the gap. Thus, some GCC countries tried to hold the stick from the middle, which sent a wrong message to Iran.

With that in mind, the cooperation and coordination between Saudi Arabia and the UAE will bring things back to normal and reset the balance of power.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia together constitute a parallel military force capable of establishing security and stability and protecting Arab countries against external tampering and in countering terrorism. This will protect the gains made by GCC states and enhance their security, which are very momentous requirements for development.

Politically, the two countries have sent a very clear message to whoever concerned. The time of relaxation and rhetoric has passed after all sincere attempts to establish relations of good-neighbourliness with Iran. That country never understood the GCC’s peaceful approach correctly.

Instead, it sought to stir strife, subversion and fund militias in Arab countries. The political coordination between the UAE and Saudi Arabia will have positive outcomes in the regional and international arenas and reflect on future decisions and approaches of many states.

The committee’s formation is a necessary step especially as GCC countries have adopted an approach that put their security and stability at real risk, whether by underestimating the dangers surrounding them or through unequal relations with Iran. In the process they distanced themselves from other GCC members or committed serious breaches, which made the GCC states vulnerable.

For some GCC states, it has not been possible to stand idly by against the backdrop of a complicated environment. The UAE-Saudi joint committee constitutes a coherent military, security, political and economic force that possesses all the capabilities to re-establish a strategic balance in the region.

All powers must re-consider their approaches, as the conditions, strategic balance and opportunities in the Gulf will be completely different from the past. The UAE-Saudi coordination has made us — the sons of the Gulf — feel more confident, secure and proud of the upcoming combine.

That will unquestionably change so many things and build a lot in preparation for the future.

Dr Mohammad Al Asoomi is a UAE economic expert and specialist in economic and social development in the UAE and the GCC countries.