The purpose of this thesis is to discuss existing U.S. arms sales to the Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC) and to propose an appropriate strategy for future arms trades. The GCC states' existing strategy for acquiring weapon systems has not been sufficient for the defense needs of the six countries. Each country has its own strategy and its main arms source. The reduction of the GCC states' resources due to a gradual reduction in oil price makes it necessary to consolidate their arms acquisition strategy to reach an efficient strategy that serves future defense requirements. U.S. weapon systems were discussed as one solution to obtaining state-of-art weapon systems with lower life cycle cost. U. S. foreign military sales (FMS) is a good tool to facilitate the arms trades between the U.S. and the GCC states. Direct offset was examined for future arms trades that enforce the GCC self-reliance. The U.S. MlA2 tank sales to Saudia Arabia and Kuwait were discussed as a case study to clarify proposals and recommendations. Lastly, recommendations for improving the FMS process were reviewedhttp://www.archive.org/details/usarmsalestogulf00aljeCaptain, Bahrain Defense ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited
