GCC’s Defense Cooperation: Moving towards Unity

For more than 30 years, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has attempted to establish a collective defense regime to protect its six members: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This ambition was expressed through a number of initiatives, beginning with the foundation of the Peninsula Shield force in 1982 and culminating in the establishment of a Unified Military Command in 2013. This latter decision represents an important reform and could be considered a crucial step in the evolution of the GCC towards deep regional integration, especially on the military side. A Unified Military Command can benefit from the various weapons systems in the Gulf, and create a new generation of Gulf officers, who take advantage of the broad similarities of the military systems and experiences of the GCC countries. In the light of the historical background of the GCC’s defense cooperation, this article aims to analyze the strategic opportunities that could be generated by the foundation of the unified military command and to explain the political challenges that could hamper the GCC countries’ attempt to evolve towards a real military alliance

We Learned What?: Pre-service Teachers as Developmental Writers in the Writing Methods Class

This article employs a pedagogical reflection of a pre-service teacher and her out-of-context grammar lesson. The author uses this pedagogical reflection to argue for enhancing the writing methods class by inviting pre-service teachers to see themselves as developing writers and see the teaching and learning of writing as an ecological practice

QATAR’S DEFENSE POLICY: SMART CHOICES OF A SMALL STATE

Defense policy of Qatar to a great extent depends on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and it’s heavily affected by the instable relations with the Gulf neighbors. Qatar has conducted a defense policy characterized by a strong focus on the self-defense capabilities, bandwagoning and the military shelter. It important to emphasize that defense policy of Qatar is first defined in “selfinterest” terms. This means that state power needs investitures to build and maintain a strong army or national defense system, an army that could be able of defensive and offensive activity. That is why Qatar allocates enormous resources and budgets to acquiring the equipment and services necessary to fulfill this goal. In parallel, the alliance strategy is the second key component of this approach. The blockade forced Qatar to review its perception of threats and reformulate a new strategy to protect its sovereignty. The new strategic environment generated by the blockade demonstrates that the threats are increasingly coming from its neighbouring states in the Gulf

Challenges of Palestinian Security Sector Reform: Blame Israeli Occupation or Internal Political Fragmentation?

The debate on Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Palestine has emerged within the context of the peace process between Israel and Palestinians, in particular following the Oslo agreement in 1993. There are different perceptions of the significance and relevance of SSR in the Palestinian context, and these depend on ideological, political allegiances and interests of domestic, regional and international actors talking about SSR. Some blame the Israeli occupation and military activities and also the governance of the Palestinian security sector for the deterioration of internal security. Others consider that the SSR is an integral element of the process of state-building to allow the Palestinians to establish an effective authority over their territories. However, Israel and external actors like the United States and the European Union still look at Palestinian SSR as a means to confront “terror and violence” and to prevent the emergence of any dangers to Israel. Israeli occupation and internal political divisions described and analyzed in this article as major challenges for Palestinian SSR. In addition, this article argues that this reform is not an end in itself, but is a necessary and a fundamental element to achieve the Palestinian national project in terms of liberation and state-building