The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has put the Gulf states in an impossible position. The American forces they host have become the main reason their hotels and energy infrastructure are under Iranian attack. Although Iranian military assets are badly degraded, Tehran retains the capacity to strike the Gulf, and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz is undiminished. U.S. President Donald Trump is as likely to take any deal he can call a victory as he is to escalate; either way, the Gulf states lose. Gulf leaders must stop waiting for Washington to deliver an outcome that serves them and start shaping one themselves. The way out requires abandoning the assumption that has governed Gulf security for a century: that security is a commodity to be brokered rather than a capability to be built. This requires the Gulf states to deal with Iran themselves rather than wait for Washington to do it for them. A settlement between the Gulf monarchies and Iran should take the form of a treaty in which a phased U.S.…