The call for joining Jordan and Morocco to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) amidst rejection from Qatar is deemed by some analysts as a sign to replace Oman. If this happens, the GCC will consist of 7 members. However, the coming GCC summit in Bahrain with the attendance of the British Prime Minister Theresa May is a sign that the GCC are seeking British umbrella in the coming four years at least, waiting for the elected president Donald Trump to take his next step so that they decide on their reaction accordingly.
Since the GCC are trying to have their own GU, the USA will be heading towards expanding its own relations with single countries rather than unions and this would cause a problem for dealing with the Gulf States together as the GU would be a barrier in this context for Americans, except for security and military cooperation.
Thus, we have witnessed many bilateral trips from GCC and British officials recently, represented by hiring some British advisers in security, economic and military fields. On the visit of the British PM, the GCC leaders will announce the establishment of the Gulf Union (GU) to replace the old GCC. In other words, the new union will function more in the field of economic and trade rather than security and military.
This is clear in the statement of Ghanim Al-Bouaini, Bahraini Minister who spoke to Al-Hayat daily that the new GU could go ahead without the involvement of Oman. Thus the coming summit is a meeting of the five members of the GCC without Oman because Oman is not part of the Arab Coalition against Houthis in Yemen and Muscat has publicly voiced its opposition to the proposed Union a few months after it was first proposed. Oman’s foreign minister, Yousef Bin-Alwai has said earlier that the sultanate would not reject the formation or oppose to the idea but it would not be a member of the GU. Oman is known for its neutral policies towards the Arab Spring and mainly the war in Syria.