NATO-style alliance fails to be agreed on at Qatar summit

Unity over security issues continues to weaken in the Middle East, as Egypt’s attempts to bring forward a NATO-style military alliance failed at the Qatar summit in Doha, according to Middle East Eye on September 20th.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was reported to have left the summit of Arab countries in Doha “deeply frustrated,” according to Egyptian diplomats. The result has revealed profound differences between nations in the region over how to coordinate regional security and stability and counter persistent threats from Israel.

The proposal to form an “Arab defence force” was blocked by both Qatar and The United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A senior member of the Egyptian delegation who spoke to Middle East Eye said: “Egypt proposed a defensive regional force under the 1950 Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty, aiming to establish a rapid-response alliance to shield member states from external threats, particularly Israel.”

Egyptian Foreign minister Badr Abdelatty hoped that the plan would allow for regional security actions to take place, independent of foreign support. According to the same senior delegation member, however, disagreements appeared not to be over the principle of the agreement, but rather who would have command of the alliance. Frustrations are allegedly centred around the disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with the former positioning itself as the most capable to take a leadership role, although Egypt pushed back on this, arguing it possesses longer military experience.

Although for Saudi Arabia the deal fell-through, they later made an agreement with Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country, due to the American failure to reign-in its ally, Israel’s, actions against countries across the Middle East and North Africa in recent years.

The same senior official also explained the tensions over some regional players being included in the alliance: “Gulf states also ruled out including Iran or Turkey. In the end, they chose to confine the matter to their own defence council.”

So far, neither Qatar, Saudi Arabia nor UAE have commented on the failed agreement.

The Qatar summit began on September 15th, which brought together leaders from countries in the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), but appears to have left few winners from the many delegations in attendance.

It was hoped that the summit could act as platform to strengthen relations between member states in the region, instead it only seems to have exposed divisions following Israel killing of 6 people in a strike in Doha when the country conducted an attack targeting Hamas leadership. Doha has made it clear that they reserve the right to respond to the blatant violation of diplomatic norms and sovereignty. Qatar has played a crucial role in mediation efforts between the Gulf states, Arab and Muslim countries, the West, and Israel, making the attack on ceasefire negotiations in Doha an indicator of the disregard Israel has for both its allies and adversaries.

But for the time being, for Egypt at least, recent weeks have not been a complete failure, as relations appear to be partially restored with Turkey, with both nations conducting joint military exercises between September 22nd to 26th. This will be the first time the two countries have conducted such relations since before Sisi came to power. What’s more, Sisi had described the Muslim Brotherhood – long backed by Ankara – as a terrorist organisation.

But this is a small victory in comparison to the vision of a “Middle East NATO” that could have been.

For Egypt in particular, it hoped to leave the Qatar summit with something concrete: a condemnation and demand for Israel to stop its genocide in Gaza and reject any forced displacement or ethnic cleansing into Northern Sinai. The peninsula has been under intense observation since the full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2023, but the Egyptian military have mobilised more than 40,000 troops to the region, which demonstrates the fragility and desperation of the situation in Cairo.

Whilst one treaty was being broken in this way, there was great hopes the Qatar summit would produce a more productive treaty for both regional and Egyptian interests. In many ways, this involved the aim to shake off the US’ influence in the region, acting independently and with more agility. However, this appears to have failed miserably, with the outcome of the gathering still being driven by US interests.

A different Egyptian diplomat that spoke with Middle East Eye stated that a Qatari delegation that returned from the US has stressed that the summit should not make any resolutions against Israel.

“They decided that any step against Israel would now be futile, and that the best option was to push the US to pressure Israel into a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.

The diplomat added: “Most of these talks took place between the foreign ministers of Gulf states and their Egyptian counterpart, Abdelatty, behind closed doors on the sidelines of the summit, and were not made public.”

The Idea that the US could be pressured into agreeing with a ceasefire, however, is a proposal that many would consider laughable.

Especially considering the Deputy United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, used the UN Security Council veto on a ceasefire resolution in Gaza for the sixth time on September 19th 2025.

With the gathering drawn to a close, the Qatar summit’s final statement condemned the Israeli strike on Doha, however, it did not go as far as taking a step toward concrete action.

For Egypt, this is a failure that encompasses a sense of isolation the country has become all to accustomed to with region partners, highlighting an inability to launch a coordinated response to Israel’s actions.

At a time when Israel is making threats extending well beyond Gaza, making claims on other countries sovereign territory and otherwise violating sovereignty, Egypt had hoped this summit would balance the stakes. But Sisi, who said “Israel is an enemy” for the first time since coming to power in 2014, has returned to Cairo with little to show for his efforts.

Sisi is faced with tight situation, the Egyptian public overwhelmingly supports the Palestinian cause, demanding action, the wider Arab region appears unable, or unwilling, to support Egypts security proposals at a time when Israel is threatening Egypt with huge numbers of forcibly displaced Palestinians.

One prominent political analyst described the situation: “For Egypt, the outcome was a setback at a time when Israeli threats extend beyond Gaza…Israel’s threats to target Hamas leaders in Cairo and the potential displacement of Palestinians into North Sinai have deeply alarmed Egypt.”

Egypt has long been a significant and powerful player in the region, but also one who has sought to unite the region. Particularly, through the 1950 Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty.

The treaty hoped to bring countries together to cooperate economically and act towards collective security. Regarding military capabilities, the treaty formed a ‘Joint Defence Council,’ which would function similarly to NATO’s article 5. But the treaty soon broke down amid real-world conditions, clashing with competing interests and political rivalries. Soon, countries no longer relied on the treaty, instead looking to larger powers for support or hatching other bilateral security pacts over the 1950 treaty.

It has not been a quiet period geopolitically for either the Middle East or Egypt, with a plot being uncovered by the latter to assassinate Hamas leaders in Cairo, which created an urgent and perhaps desperate backdrop for the summit in Doha.

The repeated attempts to form a coalition of nations highlights the uphill battle faced by anyone who dares to foster military cohesion across the Middle East, as Arab nations’ rivalries continue to be the highlight of roadblocks to wider regional cooperation.

Middle East Eye, BBC, The National (UAE), Maghrebi.org