Publications

The foreign policy of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman – is not a good example of consistent cooperation and unity, and policy on Hamas and the Gaza Strip is no exception. In the first few years of the Arab Awakening, differences between each of the participating Gulf states grew increasingly apparent, including over the issue of support for political Islamic movements. Indeed, the focus of most Gulf states has been on internal problems, regional struggles both near and far, conflicts of interest, and issues of prestige. All of these matters, and particularly their discomfort with the success by political Islam movements, have prevented the Gulf Cooperation Council from developing and agreeing on joint Gaza Strip policy. These differences narrowed in light of the improved relations between the six since 2014, but surfaced again in light of the crisis that some of the states have had with Qatar since June 2017.