it is the capital city of the whole of palestine today i am saying that palestine is unified from the sea to the river unified palestine will never be divided into two countries now you say the so-called peace process has gone forever once and for all and then we will go out of the oslo dark tunnel in other news qatar and france have signed a memorandum of understanding on combating terrorism the deal was announced as french president manuel bakr visited cata micro held a press conference with the i mean to me tommy. and. we have adopted certain procedures to not allow any funds to go to terrorists and we have had investigations into all the claims against qatar since day one the arab and muslim countries are the ones who have suffered most from terrorism and we are committed to fighting terrorism with our friends and allies more than twelve thousand homes are under threat by wildfires in southern california two hundred

thousand people have been told to evacuate the fires now and to the heart of los angeles hundreds of homes have been destroyed and schools highways and the production house are shut down firefighters say just five percent of the blaze is contained those were the headlines of the more years of the thirty minutes to stay with us here on al-jazeera we're calls here with inside story. the gulf cooperation council have a future you questions are raised off to most of the groups this week summit in kuwait instead of discussing the blockade against castro a. separate military cooperation organization with saudi arabia.

and the go and what does it mean for the g.c.c. this is inside story. and welcome to the program i'm noriko every december leaders from the six nation gulf cooperation council gather for a summit meeting there when a zation brings together saudi arabia bahrain kuwait. and amman but two thousand and seventeen has been a year of crisis for the bloc three members saudi arabia bahrain and the emirates a blockading a force. many observers dowser the summit would even take place and when it did the two day meeting ended off to a few hours we'll get to our guests in just a moment but first mama june reports from kuwait city. while the announcement that

this year's gulf cooperation council summit would go ahead as planned in kuwait came as a surprise to many it also brought renewed hope for a diplomatic breakthrough that might in the gulf crisis upon his arrival in kuwait on tuesday but that is a mere shift i mean been hamath any issued a statement expressing sincere gratitude toward kuwait's emir shifts about how the hamad a salon and his wishes for the success of the current summit stressing that the current situation in the region required the council's members to band together against all odds and challenges but even before the summit officially kicked off divisions were very much on display. first the united arab emirates announced it had formed a new economic and military partnership with saudi arabia that would be separate from the g.c.c. then saudi arabia the u.a.e. and decided not to send their respective leaders to kuwait it could be that it is embarrassing for some of the leadership of the country is the quartet work i think

anthony has. to turn up. and therefore they sent a lower level but it could be that they're just wanted to have this. just to show that they're actually still exist and the summit is going to take place but nothing else is going to have an which is a really disappointing in that case. in the end a summit that is usually slated for two days ended after only a few hours kuwait's emir said his country will continue mediating in the dispute for just so we're going to crucially. recent months of saying a lot of troubles but the wisdom of my brothers of the leaders of the gulf countries managed to calm things down and now meeting today will lead us to continue playing the role that will live up to the aspirations of our people in order to have certain mechanisms to sort out disputes with guarantees that will allow everyone to abide by these rules. added that the gulf has faced painful and

negative developments over the past six months due to the rift six months to the day says the beginning of the blockade against some here in kuwait say the fact that representatives of all member countries actually showed up means that this summit should ultimately be considered a success others however say that today's developments call into question the g.c.c. and institution which at its core is meant to highlight regional unity will be able to survive much longer. wait. ok well let's bring in our guests now and here in the studio with me atlas he's al gore he's a research academic and academic research are also in doha we have our dollar bood use featured in our early package and he's a director of the gulf studies program at cantor university and in curage city with a. professor of political science at q eight university welcome gentlemen all of

you. you know you were with us on inside story a couple weeks ago when we had a warning that if the g.c.c. summit did not take place the g.c.c. was effectively dead it sort of half took place didn't it so where does that leave the g.c.c. . well first of all it's really unfortunate what happened to cissy summit by all means or was not in the offerings that it will take place but then suddenly something happened or took place that somebody played out of the script rather than sticking to the script and because of that we we have the strangest summit just happened yesterday it was the lowest of presenting by the heads of the of the states from the g.c.c. to affairs of the g.c.c. did not send the heads of states it was the shortest summit in history of the g.c.c.

it wasn't the topics that this that were discussed were not really the thing that we were looking forward to really very sad we are sad for the g.c.c. snowless at this stage because this crippling g.c.c. crisis that has been going on for over six months now has really left its and billable marks on the not only on this on the stability and the future of the g.c.c. but also on the people minds that what's or where do we go next from here that wasn't a missed opportunity for the of for all the g.c.c. leaders to show up to sit down in a frank talk behind closed doors and discuss all the issue air out all the oil all the issues that are really bothering huge other what are told to the test that is being accused of not adhering to a twenty thirty and twenty fourteen agreements that took place and really are why did reconcile this really on going that is a crisis that is really leaving

a lot of doubt about the where we are heading and their region that is really sick and tired of turbulence of militarization of instability and of crises that are all over the place the last thing we want or is. just to see that used to be the more sed perfect body in the arab world. to be to also. catch the flu or catch the disease of fragmentation and splintering sutherland and solace all is if i could just jump in there because i want to get an idea of just how surprised people were to see such low level delegations being sent by countries like saudi arabia u.a.e. bahrain actually you know depression becomes. the gap between expectations and reality yes people are surprised by the presentation of the

blockade the countries in this summit however i mean if we go to the gulf council actually formed eighty one till two thousand and one there was nothing happening i mean it was like. the gathering more than a real. concert a real cooperation a real integration effort just only from two thousand one they started to do some integration some coordination and people started to see some value for this council of this gun for cooperation however i mean since the gulf a crisis people with hoping that this is my duty come and event and approach unity i would say even a golden opportunity for these countries to come together to set on the table and present and discuss all of the concerning issues because i mean this is

a book it in countries have issues are concerned about some issues. with qatar and qatar the same thing they have some some issues with this a book aiding countries i mean the only the only option is the dialogue dialogue dialogue we have to set we have to discuss we have to it. hans parent lee discussed these issues and again he once for all to i mean settle this not only discussing the topics but even talking about the future how to prevent such thing to to to happen to have a mechanism for conflict resolution that is really has some strategic. midges big given given that none of that did happen is that the g.c.c. been shown up to be much weaker than it had been thought in previous years it is it is actually indeed however i would say is still g.c.c. corporation or council as extremely important yes it's underperforming yes it's

under the expectation of the g.c.c. people but this body is external stream really important because the problem is not with the idea the problem is with the performance and you can always fix the performance of the a bird would you agree that the g.c.c. is extremely important and if so why does saudi arabia and the u.a.e. seem to give it such little credence. i agree with the previous speakers that the g.c.c. is important for everybody i think the fact that the g.c.c. states came to the to the meeting to the summit although. a lot of. level and terms of parts it shows that everybody is doing really cared about the g.c.c. i think the smaller gulf states care about the g.c.c. saudi arabia does care about the g.c.c. as well it's a regional integration that is still. developing yes we have lots of criticism

about its achievement and and this petition because the power of the our hopes are higher than what has been achieved but it has it has nevertheless function then has been the benefit to everybody. together all the gulf states. now when it comes to saudi arabia and the emirates i think this is. i would also agree that this is a missed opportunity because this this meeting this summit could have overcome some many problems that region is facing in the turmoil that we are living in you know the unfolding crisis that are happening around us that you see some it could've. been opportunity to to get together and to overcome these illnesses or come up with policies the saudis and their moralities i think announced this cooperation

agreement by a lot of cooperation agreement between them which is also understood there are a lot of buy a lot of cooperation agreements between member states and we could also have a two speed u.c.c. there is nothing wrong with it but we need to make sure that the g.c.c. as a collectivity still come functions intact because only through regional cooperation and integration of all the g.c.c. states that stability and security in the region and prosper can't can be in short let's focus just a little bit more about that new partnership that was announced by the u.n. on the day of this summit. i mean do you agree with that there's nothing wrong with this new bilateral cooperation that it can exist alongside the g.c.c. and not threaten the g c c's unity. well it seems that the timing of this announcement of the partnership between the strong players and the

strongest of players and the juice you see now very clearly there is a within the juices see an alliance that is emerging very clearly between saudi arabia and u.a.e. along with bahrain to form some kind of partnership maybe a button will join the spark not ship. in the future but this is really that is not the bode well that would be with the future of the g.c.c. this go this could cause a splintering of the g.c.c. into a comma towards the g.c.c. in the six countries as as it has been on society eighty one that was for. a collective security organization to deter or tool to or to strengthen the six countries in a position visa via the air never evolution the turmoil in afghanistan the soviet invasion afghanistan the iran iraq or iran evolution and other

upheavals at that time and now we are at the stage that a dysfunctional g.c.c. is and as as a real reality now after what we have seen over the last six months and after out of the. summit that took place yesterday it was a fiasco summit and in my opinion that probably some people are out of the could this could be the last g.c.c. summit as we know it saw there is a there is a plan b. it seems now on the on the works and that is still have strengthening this new alliance and plus announcing it the timing was very strange so are not on the eve of the summit on the dawn of this summit and what kind of messages are they are they sending at the salafis how there is a lot of such an alien. cissie want to be they say. and fact i mean if i just may comment on the previous point of proof we talk

about we are talking about the twelfth strongest economy in the world with the with the with the size of one point six trillion. dollars we are talking about the fifth the. economy in terms of foreign and trades we are talking about the fourth economy in terms of exportation after china united states and germany it's a huge last huge loss of the second foy's this cooperation of this concern because we can leverage and military was economy was i mean it decay should why is everybody how much has the g.c.c. actually achieved yeah i mean this is this is the point this is i mean this is c. is a is is is a resource help we leverage on this then i mean no problem that qatar cut out has a very strong relationship or use and eternity's with oman and very special

relationship with armaan united arab emirates can have that relationship and the treaties and war use and whatever cooperation with sewage area i mean this is not the the problem the problem is is this a placing the g.c.c. council or cooperation or not as this and really contain addict or not but to have i mean bilateral agreements with any body in the ward i mean that is not the issue what is the intention is the intention to replace or to just keep away from qatar and the rest of g.c.c. countries or is this something that will correspond to some certain. needs i think qatar went with the highest. it's a presentation and this summit to approve seven points one of them that they are

really keen at making sure that this cooperation and this council is a really valuable for them and they want to continue supporting it number two that they are have nothing to hide in terms of willing links to discuss and to dialogue any issue any any concern i mean they want full presentation to sure that we are here to please i mean ok i mean let's just take a look at how the rest of the world is looking at this uncertainty with the g.c.c. and all sixty sixty members are u.s. allies and the pentagon has some of its largest overseas bases in the region speaking to reporters as he traveled back to washington this week after a visit to q. ways u.s. defense secretary james mattis called for unity saying for the united states we need the g.c.c. structure we need the unity of the g.c.c. in terms of a stabilizing influence in the gulf we're looking for cohesion in the g.c.c.

and the peaceful resolution of the regional to speeds at all about how much does the u.s. depend on the g.c.c. how will the u.s. for example be by seeing these bilateral zx new partnerships between saudi and the u.a.e. . i think the u.s. and also other international strategic partners for the. election are. seriously taking the g.c.c. . an important interlocutor and they believe that the stability and security and prosperity in the region doesn't only help the g.c.c. states but also help the whole region around it. look at on the g.c.c. you see so many countries in turmoil and the g.c.c. could be kind of the locomotive that pulls these countries together and help them

to recover because of its economic power that has just been explained by the abilities i believe that the u.s. . policy in the region set out to jean the region relies heavily on all that you see states being a coherent and cohesive organization and terms of fighting against terrorism in terms of u.s. policy towards iran and. afghanistan etc they look at the g.c.c. states as a group and. qatar is a major base for the u.s. . for the u.s. commitment in the region and to exclude one state or the other for nepotism for silly things among you know and i do synchronicities among g.c.c. leadership it does not bode well for these international partner not intentionally

for the u.s. ok see it as a threat to their interest in the region and they want to quote i'll change if i just jump in there because i want to get an idea beyond the military bases in the presence of u.s. troops in the region of so that's a highly important aspect but beyond that just how effective has the g.c.c. be for the u.s. as policy in the middle east. well. as my colleagues have stated clearly the united states would like to see a g.c.c. still function not dysfunctional but unfortunately the trump administration has given and prompt probably himself through his positions and through his tweets the early stage of the crisis have given really false impressions and false hopes or some parties in the in this conflict that he's siding with them and then he took a neutral position and that really did not help the issues the united states has contributed immensely between the kneejerk tromp administration and personal

approach to the crisis and the establishment that has weighed itself very strongly in favor of a neutrality and because of that we see now united states has lost its credibility in a way although it wants to see g.c.c. function then larger than dysfunctional but its impact has really dwindled because of its flip flopping of the issue of applause the other point is that the g.c.c. still represents a major major source of energy but with defrocking of the united states more dependent on its on oil and energy to put the importance and the significance of g.c.c. one comes through the oil production and export has to really do and build and in the eyes of the united states and the maybe in other countries and the world but still there is a there is a stake here for stability and security and a functional g.c.c. because of that you see sequel will continue to be significant and important it's

too early to write it's a maturity ok this stage because it is needed it is the strongest part of the arab world and we hope that this this crisis will blow over so in the rather than later because the more of the drags on the moderately sinking us all and the best that now. but there really as as as driving or wants to see it in well let's let's look at what can happen next with the crisis at lizzie's it seems to be a general agreement that the summit was a missed opportunity to talk about the dispute so what next. i think you know when we even look at the e.u. or united states position in terms of the g.c.c. if we don't value our so how do we expect them to value us if we don't devalue the gulf cooperation and counsel how do we ask others to value what actually

positioning the gulf cooperation council starts to form with them before not the from outside of we value it off we supported if we are serious about it then we can yeah we can expect others to respect us the future i think i mean we have. to maintain this gulf cooperation council yes we are not in the business to. time there is like a big gap here but i think this can be rectified as as it happened two thousand and thirteen two thousand and fourteen this is not the first time it happens and maybe it's not the last time will it will happen but if we have the right mogens we have the right policies we have an agreement that we deal with conflict resolution whenever it happens will any reason in a certain way then this will have a real a future we we have going to jump in that issue gigs are coming to the end up till

about birds want to get an idea from you as to how this rift can be healed what concrete next step can be taken. well i would also echo what has been said that the g.c.c. summit was a missed opportunity for everybody concerned. it seems that the country drawn to and to give and they don't want to sit on the table to negotiate and that is a real pity because this is this summit could have been a real chance for them to do so. i think what has been demanded from qatar is totally unacceptable the qatari government has said so. but they are willing to sit down on the table and negotiate and there is no way out except a negotiation now what has been have in the boycott itself has really damaged the g.c.c. project of the g.c.c. as a rule based organization and one of their agreements is the common market which is the free flow of goods people and capital and if you boycott one country. you're

running against what you have decided leaders. in agreement and the decision did what did not go to the supreme council to decide it was decided our side uses the mechanisms so i think the leadership of these countries have to realize that they are not jeopardizing only the security and the stability and prosperity of the region they are also jeopardizing the function of the g.c.c. and its future ok there we will have to leave our discussion for today many thanks to all our guests for joining us. and thank you to you for watching you can see the program again any time by this thing our web site the sound is there a dot com and of other discussion to go as well facebook page that's facebook dot com for slash a.j. inside story you know they join the conversation on twitter and less at age eight inside story from me laura kyle and the whole team half life and.

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