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GCC consists of six countries: Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates.

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What kind of region and regionalism is GCC?

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What kind of region and regionalism is GCC?

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GCC is more an interstate cooperation regionalism rather than a regionalization one.

Being culturally similar and geographically close to each other does not automatically make Arab countries "brothers". The cooperation only began after the need to jointly contain internal threats in the region, namely Iran-Iraq War in 1981.

GCC has also experienced a setback. In 2017, three GCC countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and UAE, cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar due to being accused of supporting terrorism.

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GCC started as a mutual defense hoping to end Iraq-Iran War and stabilize the region. However, eventually, GCC become an economic partnership. If the GCC countries were combined, they will have 30 percent of the world's proven oil reserves thus making them one of the fastest-growing economic in the world.

In 2008, they even launched an integrated economic system in which member countries enforce the common law regarding employment, trade, and other economic activities.

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The Governor of Riyadh Province Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud warmly welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping

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On December 7th 2022, Xi Jinping attended Saudi Arabia not only to attend Saudi-China Summit but also GCC-China Summit. It is proof that beyond defense and economics, GCC is also a political cooperation.

Similar to the European Union, GCC also has its own institutional design. In 2001, the supreme council of the GCC set several goals, such as a customs union, a common market, and a common currency. While the first and second goals were already realized, the common currency is yet to be realized.

With all the military, economic, and political integrations, GCC is arguably one step closer to regional cohesion.