Gcc-Expansion Plan (Gulf Report‪)‬

The club of kings: a reactionary stratagem The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) drive to expand by bringing Jordan and Morocco into the alliance, formed in 1981 in large part to counter the fledgling Islamic Revolution in Iran, has been spawned by the same fears, now writ much larger as Tehran is determined to expand its influence across the region. The hereditary monarchies of the GCC want to expand their footprint in the Arab world amid unprecedented political upheaval by protesters across the entire region demanding sweeping democratic and economic reforms. The ruling dynasties along the western shore of the Gulf view this as a dire threat to their survival and it is this fear that must be seen as the driving force behind the unexpected expansion plan unveiled on May 10.