Page 48 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

32 Dubai & Co.

15
and did not fit with the six others. Talks about forming a common
Gulf union occurred as early as 1971, but did not materialize until a
decade later. 16
It was common security concerns—and the emergence of com-
mon threats—that were the catalyst for the formation of the GCC.
One such threat was the Iranian revolution of 1979, which created a
theocratic Shiite state too close for comfort. Many feared that Iran
would attempt to export its political ideology or, at a minimum,
would incite Shiite minorities in the Gulf states to rebel against the
Sunni monarchies. A second cause for concern materialized after
the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, also in 1979, which raised fears
that the superpowers of the time (the United States and the Soviet
Union) might take direct military action against nonaligned states
to strengthen their global standing. The Gulf states—small, sepa-
rate, and increasingly wealthy due to the 1970s oil boom—saw
themselves as potential targets of both regional (from Iran or Iraq)
or global (from the Soviet Union or another power) aggression. To
protect themselves in what at the time was a climate of heightened
security concern, the Gulf states chartered the GCC.
The document itself, however, acts as more than a mere safety
shield; it outlines a broad mandate for collaboration. Some of the
stated goals in the GCC charter are to:

● “Effect coordination, integration, and inter-connection
between Member States in all fields in order to achieve
unity between them.
● “Formulate similar regulations in various fields including
. . . economic and financial affairs; commerce, customs and
communications.
● “Stimulate scientific and technological progress.
● “Establish joint ventures and encourage cooperation by
the private sector for the good of their peoples.” 17
The phrasing of the charter is broad and flexible, reflecting the
gradualist approach toward collaboration that its drafters envi-
sioned. The document calls, for example, for “similar” regulations
and not “uniform” laws. The GCC’s central administration is quite
light: there is a small Secretariat-General, a Ministerial Council that
gathers quarterly, and a Supreme Council of heads of state that
meets annually. There is a Commission for the Settlement of