Flames are being fanned by hot dry winds which are forecast to last all week and you can follow all of those stories on our web site at aljazeera dot com next on. Inside story with laura karl. News has never been a liberal but the message is simplistic and misinformation is rife the listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging Mainstream Media narrative at this time on aljazeera does the Gulf Cooperation Council have a future new questions are raised after most of the groups leaders this week summit in kuwait instead of discussing a blockade against cattle u. A. E. And i was a new separate military Cooperation Organization with saudi arabia that shift the balance of power in the gulf and what does it mean for the g. C. C. Is future this is inside story. Oh there and welcome to the program a minority every december leaders from the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council gather for a summit meeting the organization brings together saudi arabia bahrain kuwait cats all the u. A. E. And oman but two thousand and seventeen has been a year of crisis for the bloc three members saudi arabia bahrain and the emirates a blockading a fourth cattle many observers tao said that this years summit would even take place and when it did the two day meeting ended after only a few hours well get to our guests in just a moment but first mama june reports from kuwait city. While the announcement that this years Gulf Cooperation Council summit would go ahead as planned in kuwait came as a surprise to many it also brought renewed hope for a diplomatic breakthrough that might end the gulf crisis upon his arrival in kuwait on tuesday but that is a mere shift i mean been hamath any issued a statement expressing sincere gratitude toward kuwaits emir shifts about how the with us obama and his wishes for the success of the current summit stressing that the Current Situation in the region required the Councils Members to band together against all odds and challenges but even before the summit officially kicked off the divisions were very much on display. First the United Arab Emirates announced it had formed a new economic and military partnership with saudi arabia that would be separate from the g. C. C. Then saudi arabia the u. A. E. And decided not to send their respective leaders to kuwait it could be that it is embarrassing for some of the leadership of the country is the quartet work i think anthony has. To turn up. And therefore they sent a lower level but it could be that theyre really just wanted to have this. Just to show that theyre actually still exist and the summit is going to take place but nothing else is going to have been which is a really disappointing in that case. In the end a summit that is usually slated for two days ended after only a few hours kuwaits emir said his country will continue mediating in the dispute for just so were going to crucially. Recent months of saying a lot of troubles but the wisdom of my brothers of the leaders of the gulf countries managed to calm things down and now meeting today will lead us to continue playing the role that will live up to the aspirations of our people in order to have certain mechanisms to sort out disputes with guarantees that will allow everyone to abide by these rules. Added that the gulf has faced painful and negative developments over the past six months due to the rift it six months to the day says the beginning of the blockade against some here in kuwait say the fact that representatives of all member countries actually showed up means that this summit should ultimately be considered a success others however say that todays developments call into question the g. C. C. And institution which at its core is meant to highlight regional unity will be able to survive much longer. Wait. Ok well lets bring in our guests now and here in the studio with me atlas hes al gore hes a Research Academic and Academic Research are also in doha we have our dollar bood whos featured in our early package and hes the director of the Gulf Studies Program at cattle university and in curage city with a. Professor of Political Science at q eight University Welcome gentlemen all of you. You know you were with us on inside story a couple weeks ago when we had a warning that if the g. C. C. Summit did not take place the g. C. C. Was effectively dead it sort of half took place didnt it so where does that leave the g. C. C. Well first of all its really unfortunate what happened just to see summit by all means a was not in the offing is that it will take place but then suddenly something happened that took place that somebody played out of the script rather than sticking to the script and because of that we we have the strangest summit just happened yesterday it was the lowest of presenting by the heads of the states from the g. C. C. To affairs of the g. C. C. Did not send heads of states it was the shortest summit in history of the g. C. C. It wasnt the topics that this that were discussed were not really the thing that we were looking forward to and really very sad we are sad for the g. C. C. Snowless at this stage because this crippling g. C. C. Crisis that has been going on for over six months now has really left its and billable marks on the not only on this on this stability and the future of the g. C. C. But also on the people minds that whats or where do we go next from here that wasnt a missed opportunity for the of for all the g. C. C. Leaders to show up to sit down and a frank talk behind closed doors and discuss all the issue air out all the oil all the issues that are really bothering huge other pottle to the test that is being accused of not adhering to a twenty thirty and twenty fourteen agreements that took place and really are. Really on going that is a crisis that is really leaving a lot of doubt about the where we are heading and their region that is really sick and tired of turbulence of militarization of instability and of crises that are all over the place the last thing we want is. Just to see that used to be the morse perfect body in the arab world to be to also. Catch the flu or cut to the disease of fragmentation and splintering of solace solace if i could just jump in there because i want to get an idea of just how surprised people were to see such low level delegations being sent by countries like saudi arabia u. A. E. Bahrain actually you know depression becomes. The gap between expectations and reality yes people are surprised by the presentation of the blockade countries in this summit however i mean if we go to the gulf council actually formed eighty one till two thousand and one there was nothing happening i mean it was like. The gathering more than a real. Concert a real cooperation a real integration effort just only from two thousand and one they started to do some integration some coordination and people started to see some value for this council of this gun for cooperation however i mean since the gulf a crisis people with hoping that this is my duty come and event or an approach unity i would say even a golden opportunity for these countries to come together to set on the table and present and discuss all the concerning issues because i mean this is a book it in countries have issues are concerned about some issues. With qatar and qatar the same thing they have some some issues with this of locating countries i mean the only the only option is the dialogue dialogue dialogue we have to set we have to discuss we have to. Hans parent lee discussed these issues and again he once for all to i mean settle this not only discussing the topics but even talking about the future how to prevent such thing to to to happen to have a mechanism for conflict resolution that is really has some strategic. Midges big given given that none of that did happen is that the g. C. C. Been shown up to be much weaker than it had been thought in previous years it is it is actually indeed however i would say is still g. C. C. Corporation or council as extremely important yes its underperforming and yes its under the expectation of the g. C. C. People but this body is external stream be important because the problem is not with the idea the problem is with the performance and you can always fix the performance of the above bird would you agree that the g. C. C. Is extremely important and if so why does saudi arabia and the u. A. E. Seem to give it such little credence. I agree with the previous speakers that the g. C. C. Is important for everybody i think the fact that the g. C. C. States came to the to the meeting to the summit although. A lot of. Level and terms of parts it shows that everybody is doing really cared about the g. C. C. I think the smaller gulf states care about the g. C. C. Saudi arabia does care about the g. C. C. As well its a regional Integration Project that is still. Developing yes we have lots of criticism about its achievement and and this petition because the our the our hopes are higher than what has been achieved but it has it has nevertheless function then has been the benefit to everybody. Together all the gulf states now when it comes to saudi arabia and the emirates i think this is. I would also agree that this is a missed opportunity because this this meeting this summit could have overcome some many problems that region is facing in the turmoil that we are living in you know the unfolding crisis that are happening around us the g. C. C. Summit could of. Opportunity to to get together and to overcome these rights is all come up with policies the saudis and the m r r ts i think. This Cooperation Agreement by lot of Cooperation Agreement between them which is also understood there are a lot of bilateral Cooperation Agreements between Member States and we could also have a two speed g. C. C. There is nothing wrong with it but we need to make sure that the g. C. C. As a collectivity still come functions intact because only through Regional Cooperation and integration of all the g. C. C. States that stability and security in the region. And prospered ok can be sure lets focus just a little bit more about that new partnership that was announced by the u. A. E. On the day of this summit at all ill. Do you agree with that theres nothing wrong with this new bilateral cooperation that it can exist alongside the g. C. C. And not threaten the g c cs unity. What it seems that the timing of this announcement of the partnership between the strong players now the strongest players and the g. C. C. Now very clearly there is a within the do you see see an alliance that is emerging very clearly between saudi arabia and u. A. E. Along with bahrain to form some kind of partnership maybe a button will join the spark not ship. In the future but this is really does not bode well or would be with the future of the g. C. C. This good this could cause a splintering of the g. C. C. Into a comma towards the g. C. C. In the six countries as as it has been on society eighty one that was for. A collective Security Organization to deter or tool or to strengthen the six countries position visa via the air never volution the turmoil in afghanistan the soviet invasion afghanistan the iran iraq or iran evolution and other upheavals at that time and now we are at the stage that a dysfunctional g. C. C. Is a not as is a real reality now after what we have seen over the last six months and after out of the. Summit that took place yesterday it was a fiasco summit and in my opinion that probably some people out are the could this could be the last g. C. C. Summit as we know it saw there is a there is a plan b. It seems now on the on the works and that is still have strengthening this new alliance and plus announcing at the timing was very strange so are not on the eve of the summit on the dawn of this summit and what kind of messages are they are they sending at the salafis how there is a lot of such an alien. This is you want to be they say. And fact i mean if i just may comment on the previous point of proof we talk about we are talking about the twentieth strongest economy in the world with the with the with the with the saudis of one point six trillion. Dollars we are talking about the fifth. Economy in terms of Foreign Trades we are talking about the fourth economy in terms of exportation after China United States and germany its a huge lost its a huge loss of the second foys the cooperation of this concert because we can leverage and military was economy was i mean it decay should wise everybody how much has the g. C. C. Actually achieved yeah i mean this is this is the point this is i mean g. C. C. Is a is is is a resource help we leverage on this then i mean no problem that qatar cut out has a very strong relationship or use and eternitys with oman and very special relationship with armaan United Arab Emirates can have that relationship and the treaties and war use and what have cooperation with sewage area i mean this is not the the problem the problem is is this a placing the g. C. C. Council or cooperation or not as this and really contradict or not but to have i mean Bilateral Agreements with any body in the ward i mean that is not the issue what is the intention is the intention to replace or to just keep away from qatar and the rest of g. C. C. Countries or is this something that will correspond to some certain. Needs i think qatar went with the highest. Its a presentation and this summit to approve seven points one of them that they are really keen at making sure that this cooperation and this council is really valuable for them and they want to continue supporting it number two that they are have nothing to hide in terms of willing links to discuss and to dialogue any issue any any concern i mean they want full presentation to sure that we are here to please i mean ok i mean lets just take a look at how the rest of the world is looking at this uncertainty with the g. C. C. And all sixty c. Z. Members are u. S. Allies and the pentagon has some of its Largest Overseas bases in the region speaking to reporters as he traveled back to washington this week after a visit to q. Ways u. S. Defense secretary james mattis called for unity saying for the United States we need the g. C. C. Structure we need the unity of the g. C. C. In terms of a stabilizing influence in the gulf were looking for cohesion in the g. C. C. And the peaceful resolution of the regional to speeds tell about how much does the u. S. Depend on the g. C. C. How will the u. S. For example be by seeing these bilateral zx new partnerships between saudi and the u. A. E. I think the u. S. And also other International Strategic partners for the. Election are. Seriously taking the g. C. C. An important interlocutor and they believe that the stability and security and prosperity in the region doesnt only help the g. C. C. States but also help the whole region around it. Look at on the g. C. C. You see so many countries in turmoil and the g. C. C. Could be kind of the locomotive that pulls these countries together and help them to recover because of its economic power that has just been explained by the abilities i believe that the u. S. Policy in the region strategy in the region relies heavily on all that you see state being a coherent and cohesive organization and terms of fighting against terrorism in terms of u. S. Policy towards iran and. Afghanistan except that they look at the g. C. C. States as a group and. Qatar is a major base for the u. S. For the u. S. Commitment in the region and to exclude one state or the other for nepotism for silly things among you know an idea of same criticism monks do you see leadership it does not bode well for these International Partner and for the u. S. Ok see it as a threat to their interest in the region and they want to go out on stage if i just jump in there because i want to get an idea beyond the military bases in the presence of u. S. Troops in the region of so thats a highly important aspect but beyond that just how effective has the g. C. C. Be for the u. S. As policy in the middle east. Well. As my colleagues have stated clearly the United States would like to see a g. C. C. Still function not dysfunctional but unfortunately the Trump Administration has given and prompt probably himself through his positions and through his tweets the early stage of the crisis have given really fall suppressions on false hopes or some parties in the in this conflict that hes siding with them and then he took a neutral position and that really did not help the issues the United States has contributed immensely between the kneejerk Trump Administration and personal approach to the crisis and the establishment that has weighed itself very strongly in favor of a new trial ity and because of that we see now United States has lost its credibility in a way although it it wants to see g. C. C. Function then larger than dysfunctional but its impact has really dwindled because of its flip flopping all over the issue of applause the other point is that the g. C. C. Still represents a major major source of energy but with the fracking of the United States more dependent on its on oil and energy to put the importance and the significance of g. C. C. One comes to the Oil Production and export has to really do and build and in the eyes of the United States and the maybe in other countries and the world but still there is a there is a stake here for stability and security and a functional g. C. C. Because of that you see sequel will continue to be significant and important its too early to write its a bit short this stage of because it is needed it is the strongest part of the arab world and we hope that thi