The Gulf Co-operation Council and security in the Arabian Gulf

For many years the Arabian Gulf was an area which rankedhigh in the list of British overseas interests, so highin fact that Britain was the protecting power of theGulf states by virtue of exclusive treaties. In theyears following the second world war the economic importanceof these states increased enormously with the dramaticexploitation of their single asset, oil. This developmentwas parallelled by the decline in the ability ofBritain to maintain stability as protecting power, culminatingin her complete withdrawal in 1971. Stability wasseen as the prerequisite for access to oil; old disputesbetween the Gulf states threatened stability as well asthe possibility of Super-power involvement leading toconfrontation. This thesis deals with the way the Gulfstates themselves addressed these problems by establishingthe Gulf Co-operation Council in 1981. Internal threatsto stability were resolved, institutions and proceduresdrafted to harmonise economic policies and to tackle thesocial consequences of the exploitation of oil. Externalthreats, however, continue to cause international concern;analysis of the aims and performance of the GCC leads toan assessment of the likelihood of its success in replacingBritain as the protecting power in an area which will continueto be of international concern as far as can bereasonably forecast.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Master's Level (Level 7)

Year dc:date.issued

1985

Author dc:creator

• Al-Absy, MR

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1339190

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1339190