Publication

This paper examines some of the issues discussed at the May 2015 summit between US President Barack Obama and representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The authors argue that the summit was convened to 1) ease concerns of GCC leaders about the emerging P5+1 agreement with Iran on the latter's nuclear program; 2) “compensate” the GCC states – in part through the supply of weapons systems - to counter the nuclear threat that could be posed by Iran; and 3) recruit support for the nuclear agreement with Iran. They also speculate on the future of relations between the US and the GCC states.