An Analysis of the Security Dynamics of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan، the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran، the Iraq’s failure in invading Iran، and the resistance in face of the ideology introduced by the Islamic revolution of Iran drove the Arab countries of the Southern margin of the Persian Gulf to integrate their own foreign and domestic policies to counter such threats by creating a regional institution. So، with the initiative put forward by Saudi Arabia، and the overt and covert supports given by the West، especially America، an institution was established that consisted of Saudi Arabia، Qatar، Amman، Emirates، Kuwait and Bahrain under the title of the [Persian Gulf] Cooperation Council. Therefore، this article intends to address the reasons why the Cooperation Council failed to succeed to achieve regional convergence by employing the Regional Security Complex Theory as the theoretical framework using an analytical-descriptive method. The main question in the present research is “What obstacles exist in the way of the Cooperation Council in order to transit into a regional security complex theory?” Ultimately، it was found out that there are a complex of economic، political-security، and social obstacles in the path of the Cooperation Council in order for it to become a security complex and realize regional convergence in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Gulf that have prevented these from becoming a reality.