Need to Rethink the EU-GCC Strategic Relation. Sharaka Conceptual Paper

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) are two important global actors with an enormous potential for cooperation in a number of sectors. This paper provides the conceptual framework that will guide the research to be carried out in the project "Sharaka - Enhancing Understanding and Cooperation in EU-GCC Relations". The project and the paper itself come at a timely moment in which relations are at an all-time low and need to be revamped and rebuilt on a new, more solid foundation. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the past, present and future of EU-GCC relations, assessing their strengths and weaknesses and putting forth ideas to foster mutual cooperation.