Opinion: Gulf states must learn art of unity

It was a particularly unsavoury row, laced with a dash of Italian spice. Finland wanted to host the European Union’s food safety authority, but Italy, the land of pasta e fagioli, spaghetti alla carbonara and pollo alla potentina, was having none of it.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, scoffed at the thought of Finnish delicacies. “There is absolutely no comparison between culatello [ham] from Parma and smoked reindeer,” Berlusconi reportedly said. It was a spat the Italians won, with the agency safely located in Parma.

Such has been the testy and troubled path Europe has taken as it inched towards economic union. Fast-forward four years and it is now the Gulf that is juggling with its own hot potato. This time the feud pits Saudi Arabia against the United Arab Emirates over the location of the Gulf Co-operation Council’s central bank.