Gulf Cooperation Council and Dispute Settlement: Assessing the Current Practices and Developing Better Policy Responses

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This project proposes to investigate and analyze the dispute mediation role of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Created in 1981 as a sub-regional cooperation framework of the Gulf Arab states, the GCC has a mixed record of successes and failures in intra and extra-GCC dispute mediation, and its track record in this area is often below the mark compared to the institutional cohesiveness and resources at its disposal. This research proposal aims to carry out a comprehensive study on the dispute mediation policies, roles, and practices of the GCC, evaluate its successes and failures, and suggest new policy initiatives to enable the GCC to deal with conflicts more effectively as an honest and neutral dispute mediator.