Economic Integration in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Lessons From the EU

Beyond posing an existential threat to the European project, the Greek debt crisis has turned into a public-relations disaster for the process of European integration. However, as they gradually increase the ties between their own economies, the onlooking Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries must be careful not to dismiss the project completely, as numerous elements of European economic integration have performed well when evaluated by a discerning eye. Over seventy years, economies as disparate as the Netherlands and Italy have gone from being on opposite sides of the bloodiest war in history, to peaceful engagement in free trade, a customs union, a single market and, most recently, a monetary union that saw their common interest rate set by a Frenchman residing in Frankfurt. This article was originally published in RUSI Newsbrief (Vol. 35, No. 4, July 2015)

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