US President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel plans for a summit with GCC leaders in March reveals the extent of divisions among the region’s monarchies, following Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain’s decision to withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar in protest at the latter’s regional policies.

It is a blow to Washington, which only three months ago had proposed to start selling arms to the GCC as a unit, rather than to individual states as had previously been the case.

Nevertheless, the White House’s surmising that tensions were too high to stage a summit is probably correct. And there is little prospect of an improvement, with Qatar protesting that the independence of its foreign policy is “non-negotiable”.

The stage is set for Doha to enter a period of isolation, amid speculation that Riyadh is considering whether to close its air space to Qatari aircraft.

This leaves a big question mark hanging over the GCC’s various efforts at cross-border cooperation, such as a monetary union and proposals for Schengen-style visa-free travel across the six member states. Plans for a GCC joint military command involving the conscription of nationals may also be disrupted.

The pan-GCC electricity grid is unlikely to be affected by the current spat, but if tensions worsen, Qatar’s willingness to keep supplying cheap Dolphin gas to Abu Dhabi may be reduced.

This much is clear; any GCC initiatives are not likely to be prioritised in the present febrile climate. However, this need not prove a devastating blow to the region as many of the more ambitious cross-border projects have already had much of their momentum taken away. Also, despite the strong language flinging back and forth between Doha and Riyadh, there is still more that unites the GCC states than divides them.

In the near term, the hope must be that cool heads prevail and that the GCC states’ long-standing ties eventually emerge strengthened. That looks a distant prospect right now, but the region has come through previous brouhahas and its leaders are keenly aware that all sides will ultimately be the losers if a dispute is allowed to be turned into a broader crisis.