| This study assesses the cooperative relationship of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Beyond providing an evolutionary analysis of the council's cooperative relations, it argues that the principle motivating premise behind their cooperation is security, and that cooperation is pursued out of a sense of relative vulnerability both regionally and internationally in light of their respective sizes, resources, and capacities. The security rationale essentially explains why the GCC states cooperate or do not cooperate on certain areas depending on whether they perceive cooperation through the GCC as the most beneficial means of achieving their broader optimal security ideals given their respective situations and interests.; The study concentrates specifically on the defense, internal security, and economic cooperative relationships of the council states under the GCC, and how these interests have evolved over the course of the organizations history. It emphasizes that collective efforts to cooperate have fluctuated depending on the necessity of certain initiatives, political will, security concerns relating to sovereignty and the protection of decision making authorities, as well as the role of regional players or international powers. Yet, despite differing levels of progress in these areas, the council states have been successful in using the GCC alliance as a tool to facilitating their own defensive, internal, and economic security interests and bolstering their capacities strategically by using the coordinated resources of other GCC states as an extension of their own through gradual integration. |
