This volume contains the contributions to the Gulf Research Center workshop entitled: “Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Relations with Post-War Iraq: A Strategic Perspective,” held during the July 2013 Gulf Research Meeting in Cambridge, UK. The papers examine the history and future of the often fractious relationship between Iraq and the GCC countries.
Strategic & International
This study aims to respond to the following questions: 1 – Is Iraq a threat to the Arab states of the Gulf? 2 – Is Iraq a challenge or an opportunity for the regional security of the Gulf? 3 – What are the responsibilities of the Gulf toward Iraq?
During these times of uncertainty and faltering alliances, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been left in a conundrum. The perceived diminishing role of the US in the region has raised a few eyebrows with the GCC contemplating new partnerships to help secure its own safety.
Clientelism is a widespread phenomenon, often resulting from preexisting socioeconomic conditions such as inequalities, government dominance over the economy, and deficiencies in political institutions. State formation ushered vote buying into clientelistic behaviour and reinforced brokerage systems.
The “Arab Spring” epitomized the use of social media networks. Internet-based spheres have demonstrably facilitated civil movements throughout the Arab World. One of the effects has been youth empowerment in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
Gulf-Iran relations are sometimes characterized by contradictions. In times when we witness numerous tensions in relations because of some controversial issues, we note that there are distinct economic relations between Iran and some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Recognizing that the State’s foreign policy is the outcome of internal and external factors, the political events that took place in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2011, resulted in changing the orientation of the country’s foreign policy dramatically, especially if we consider the following factors.
This publication contains presentations from the “National Security and Regional Security of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): A Vision from Within”, organized by…