With the Iran war overshadowing life in the Arab world, water and food have become two resources in severe shortage in this oil-rich region—things that all the money they possess cannot buy or even secure, due to the strangulation of shipping through the Gulf of Hormuz.
The population in the Gulf countries, which has multiplied and grown over the years in leaps and bounds under the assumption of unending affluence, is now, besides facing the decimation of lives in drone attacks, confronted with rising unemployment and penury.
Able-bodied workers from poorer Asian and African nations, who settled in the Gulf with the expectation of making a fortune and eventually returning to their home countries, must now rethink their strategies for living in what was once considered the affluent Arab world.
The wealthy moguls in the UK without settled status—the “non-doms” in particular—who migrated to the Gulf in droves, partly due to increased wealth and inheritance taxes imposed by the Labour government, are now having second thoughts and considering returning to the homes they once abandoned in search of wealth preservation and lower taxation.
“What goes up must come down” is a saying that was generally overlooked or ignored but has now regained relevance following the Iran war and the US bombardment of Iran on 28 February 2026.
“Wars begin in the minds of men, and in the minds of men must the defences of peace be created” is a principle embodied in the UN Charter, formed after the devastation of two World Wars in the early 20th century.
What the creators and proponents of the Gulf states and principalities—entities shaped in the early 20th century—failed to fully consider is that wealth preservation depends not only on oil and natural resources underground, but also on life-giving sources of water beneath the surface.
