Unity of the Gulf States Stressed in a Seminar Held by ECSSR

The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) organized a seminar Wednesday on the Gulf Cooperation Council amid confederacy and federalism. The lecture was presented by Dr. Abdullah K. Alshayji, Professor of Political Science Dept., Kuwait University.

Alshayji stressed that the reasons for founding the Council were realistic and pragmatic, noting that it was established in an area that lacks regional balance in an attempt to find a unified system for collective security of the GCC states.

He therefore emphasized the importance of the Gulf states’ unity, saying that it is significant for them in view of the challenges facing the Council and its growing role on the regional and Arab levels at the current time.

The unity is also significant in light of the decline in Egypt and Syria’s role as a result of internal causes, increasing globalization of the Gulf’s security, as well as the growth in GDP and the enormous oil resources of the Gulf states, he continued.

Alshayji added that these factors highlight the need to develop the Council and help its unity, but stressed the necessity to resolve the existing differences.