The writer is assistant minister for political affairs and special envoy of the UAE minister of foreign affairs

Directly after Iran’s egregious June 23 attack on Qatar, the United Arab Emirates joined our Gulf partners at an emergency Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Doha. We affirmed the indivisibility of our collective security, and offered practical pathways forward. The latest round of fighting should not have surprised anyone. It is the result of decades of missed opportunities and ineffective leadership, and the proliferation of proxy conflicts that have undermined the chances for lasting peace for all peoples of the region.

For years, two false notions have taken hold in the Middle East: first, that force alone can secure stability and security. Second, that states in our region can be built securely on the basis of a zealous ideology. In fact, military victories in the Middle East are often hollow and fragile and extremist ideology can never create safe, stable and successful societies.