The Gulf Cooperation Council: the Cooperation Council - Essay Example

This cooperation has mostly been established for security, political, and economic goals. So far, the GCC has not been successful in meeting these objectives and has been faced with major challenges in relation to integration and cooperation among its members. Issues with Iraq's instability and Iran’s political hegemony are some of the issues being faced by the GCC. As a result, the security of the region has not been established to satisfactory status.

Instead, more conflicts have been observed with a strong reliance on US troops on managing security issues and ensuring stability in the region. Still, conflicts between and among the countries are difficult to resolve because of underlying economic and political issues which to date are not sufficiently being managed by the individual members and by the GCC as a whole. However, efforts are being carried out in order to eventually lay down the foundations for effective and powerful security and economic cooperation within the Gulf region.

GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council): Security and Challenges
What are the security challenges and issues faced by the GCC? How responsive is the GCC in meeting these challenges?
Establishing joint ventures, unified military presence, improved cooperation between the private sector, and securing a common currency by 2010 include objectives set by the GCC. Some of these goals have been realized, and others are still being worked out. Specifically, in relation to security, there are still different issues that the GCC needs to work out among its member countries.

The concept of collective security has called for Gulf countries to collectively bind and join their security policies as well as deploy and activate their defensive capabilities. Defense ministers have agreed on efforts to secure a coordinated defense system for the GCC. These plans included the establishment of the Peninsula Shield Force in 1984, mostly as part of its effort to ensure stronger integration for the member-states.