Article 4 also emphasized the deepening and strengthening of relations, links and areas of cooperation among their citizens. The underpinnings which are clearly provided for in the preamble of the GCC Charter, confirm the special relations, common qualities and similar systems founded on the creed of Islam, faith in a common destiny and sharing one goal, and that the cooperation among these states would serve the sublime objectives of the Arab nation.
The decision was not a product of the moment but an institutional embodiment of a historical, social and cultural reality. Deep religious and cultural ties link the six states, and strong kin relations prevail among their citizens. All these factors, enhanced by one geographical entity extending from sea to desert, have facilitated contacts and interaction among them, and created homogeneous values and characteristics.
Therefore, while, on one hand, the GCC is a continuation, evolution, and institutionalization of old prevailing realities, it is, on the other, a practical answer to the challenges of security and economic development in the area. It is also a fulfilment of the aspirations of its citizens towards some sort of Arab regional unity.
Member States:
Being fully aware of the ties of special relations, common characteristics and similar systems founded on the creed of Islam which bind them and Desiring to effect coordination, cooperation and integration between them in all fields and, Having the conviction that coordination, cooperation, and integration between them serve the sublime objectives of the Arab Nation and, In pursuit of the goal of strengthening cooperation and reinforcement of the links between them and In an endeavour to complement efforts already begun in all essential areas that concern their peoples and realize their hopes for a better future on the path to unity of their States and In conformity with the Charter of the League of Arab States which calls for the realization of closer relations and stronger bonds and In order to channel their efforts to reinforce and serve Arab and Islamic causes, Have agreed as follows:
The Establishment of the Council
A Council shall be established hereby to be named The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf hereinafter referred to as the Cooperation Council (GCC)
Headquarters
The Cooperation Council shall have its headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Cooperation Council Meetings
The Council shall hold its meetings in the state where it has its headquarters and may convene in any member state.
Objectives
The basic objectives of the Cooperation Council are:
Council Membership
The Cooperation Council shall be formed of the six states that participated in the Foreign Ministers' meeting held in Riyadh on 4 February 1981.
Organization of the Cooperation Council
The Cooperation Council shall have the following main organizations:
Each of these organizations may establish sub-agencies as may be necessary.
Supreme Council
The Functions of the Supreme Council
The Supreme Council shall endeavour to realize the objectives of the Cooperation Council, particularly as concerns the following:
Voting in the Supreme Council
Commission for the Settlement of Disputes
Ministerial Council
Functions of the Ministerial Council
Voting in the Ministerial Council
The Secretariat General
Functions of the Secretariat General
The Secretariat General shall:
Privileges and Immunities
Budget of the Secretariat General
The Implementation of the Charter
Amendments to the Charter
Closing Provisions
Secretary General
H.E. Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi
Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (since February 1, 2023)
Nationality: State of Kuwait
Date of Position: 2/1/2023
2021
June
Head of Kuwait Delegation to SOM III Yemen Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting.
2020
February
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the International Donor's Conference on Albania.
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the Yemen Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting.
2019
November
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the Second Annual Review of the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre.
October
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee & Migrant Crisis.
April Head of Kuwait Delegation to the AHLC Meeting – Senior Official Level
2018
July
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the Somalia Partnership Forum - Ministerial Meeting.
May
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the International Conference on the Victims of Ethnic & Religious Violence.
February
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the Kuwait Economic Forum (Kuwait Vision2035) held in Brussels.
January
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the AHLC Extraordinary Meeting.
Cooperation Initiative Members (ICI) and NATO - Kuwait City.
2016
November
ead of Kuwait Delegation for Policy Advisory Group meeting between the Istanbul.
Cooperation Initiative Members (ICI) and NATO - Doha.
October
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan.
June
Guest Speaker for the Policy Seminar on Muslim Friendly Korea.
April
Head of Kuwait Delegation at the Water Forum.
March
Guest Speaker at Korea Times Middle East Committee Meeting.
2015
December
The 14th Republic of Korea – UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation issues.
November
Head of Kuwait delegation In the Kuwaiti - Korean economic forum In World Trade Centre - Seoul.
October
The 12th Korea-Middle East Cooperation Forum "Partnership for Peace, Prosperity and People".
2014
December
The 13th Republic of Korea – UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non- Proliferation Issues "Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges in Disarmamentand Non-Proliferation"
October
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014 (PP-14).
Head of Kuwait Delegation to the High-level Segment of UN Biological Diversity Conference.
Keynote Speaker – The Korea & GCC Conference on Defense Industry Cooperation 2014.
2013
December
The Working Group Meeting on Syria.
November
The 12th UN-ROK Joint Conference on Disarmament & Non-Proliferation Issues "Non-Proliferation Regime in the 21st Century: Challenges and Way Forward".
2003-2008
Member of the State of Kuwait Negotiation Team for the Trade and Investment Agreement (TIFA) with the United States of America.
1997-2000
Member of the State of Kuwait Delegation to General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
1997 - 1999
Member of the State of Kuwait Delegation to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
1992
Member of the State of Kuwait Delegation to the Summit of the Non Allied Movement.
1. The Supreme Council
The Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the highest authority of the organization. It is composed of the heads of the Member-States. Its presidency rotates periodically among the Member States in alphabetical order. It meets in an ordinary session each year. Extraordinary sessions may be convened at the request of any one Member-State seconded by another Member State. At its summit held in Abu Dhabi in 1998,the Supreme Council decided to hold consultative meetings in between the last and the coming summit. To be valid a meeting must be attended by two-thirds of the Member-States. Each Member State has one vote. Resolutions in substantive matters are carried by unanimous approval of participating member states in the voting. However, decisions on procedural matters are taken by the vote of the majority of the Supreme Council.
The Consultative Commission of the Supreme Council
It is composed of thirty members, five members from each of the Member State, chosen for their expertise and competence for a term of three years. This body considers matters referred to it by the Supreme Council of the GCC.
Dispute Settlement Commission
Beneath the Supreme Council is the Dispute Settlement Commission which is constituted by the Supreme Council for each case of dispute arising out of the interpretation of the terms of the charter.
2. The Ministerial Council
The Ministerial Council is composed of the Foreign Ministers of all the Member States or other ministers deputizing for them. The Council is presided over by the Member State which presided over the last ordinary session of the Supreme Council. It convenes its ordinary sessions once every three months . An extraordinary session can be convened at the invitation of any one Member State seconded by another Member State. A session is valid if attended by two-thirds of the Member States.
The functions of the Ministerial Council include, among other things, formulating policies and making recommendations for promotion of cooperation among the Member States and achieving coordination among the Member-States for implementation of the ongoing projects. It submits its decisions in the form of recommendations to the Supreme Council for its approval. The Ministerial Council is also responsible for preparations to hold meetings of the Supreme Council and prepare its agenda. The voting procedure in the Ministerial Council is the same as in the Supreme Council.
3. The Secretariat General
The functions of the Secretariat General are broadly the preparation of special studies relating to cooperation, coordination, planning and programming for common action, preparation of periodical reports regarding the work done by the GCC, following up the implementation of its own decisions, preparation of reports and studies on the demand of either the Supreme Council or the Ministerial Council, making arrangements for holding of the meetings of various organs, finalization of their agenda and drafting resolutions. The Secretariat General is composed of the following:
A. The Secretary-General: He is appointed by the Supreme Council for a term of three years renewable for another term.
B. Eight Assistant Secretaries-General: They deal with the functional areas under the jurisdiction of the GCC , like political, economic, military, security, humanitarian, environmental, legal, media, cultural affairs, information, finance and administration, strategic dialogue and negotiations. They are appointed by the Ministerial Council on the nomination of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of three years. The Secretariat General also includes the head of the GCC Delegation to the European Union at Brussels and the head of the GCC Delegation to the United Nations.
C. The Directors-General of the functional divisions of the Secretariat and all other subordinate employees: all of them are appointed by the Secretary General. The functional structure of the General Secretariat covers a number of specialized and supportive areas like political, economic, military, security, humanitarian, and environmental affairs; finance and management, strategic dialogue and negotiations, intellectual property rights , the Office of the Technical Secretariat for Anti-dumping, the Technical Office of Communications located in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Office of the Consultative Commission located in the Sultanate of Oman. The delegates of the missions of the GCC to the European Union and the United Nations form part of the administrative personnel of the Secretariat.
H.E.Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit Secretary General of the League of Arab States
Date of Birth : 12 June 1942.
Place of Birth : Cairo, Egypt.
Marital status : Married with two sons.
Education : B.Sc. in Commerce, Ain Shams University, 1964.
Decorations: Decorations from the Governments of the Republics of France/ Italy/ Serbia/ Chile and Russian Federation
Professional History :
July 2016
2004-2011
1999-2004 in New York.
Secretary General of the League of Arab States.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations
1996-1999
Minister of Foreign Affairs.
1992-1996
1989-1992
Ambassador to the Italian Republic.
Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the
Assistant Foreign Minister and Chief of Cabinet of the
1985-1989 United Nations in New York.
1982-1985 Counsellor, Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
1979-1982 Counsellor, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Moscow.
1977-1979 First Secretary, International Organizations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1974-1977 First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in New York.
1973-1974 Third Secretary, International Organizations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1972-1973 Third Secretary, Public Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1968-1972 Third Secretary, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Nicosia.
1966-1968 Attaché, Information and Communication Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1965-1966 Attaché, Balkans and Eastern Europe Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1965 Attaché, Diplomatic and Consular Corps Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
League of Arab States Charter
The Charter of the League of Arab States consisted of a preamble, twenty articles, and three special appendices. The first annex was related to Palestine and included the selection of a delegate by the League Council, meaning Palestine, to participate in its work until it gained independence. The second annex is related to cooperation with Arab countries that are not independent and therefore not participating in the League Council. As for the third and final annex, it concerns the appointment of Mr. Abdel Rahman Azzam, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the first Secretary-General of the League for a period of two years. The preamble indicated that the relevant countries agreed to the Charter with the aim of strengthening Arab relations and ties within the framework of respect for independence and sovereignty in the interest of all Arab countries.
On March 22, 1945, the Charter of the League of Arab States was signed by the delegates of the Arab countries, except for Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which signed the Charter later. The signing session was attended by the representative of the Palestinian parties, and March 22 of each year became the day of the annual celebration of the League of Arab States.
Historical Overview
The League of Arab States celebrated in 2020 the diamond anniversary of its establishment, which marked the emergence of the Arab regional system and gave it the unique feature that distinguishes it: the national character.
Membership in the League of Arab States expanded from seven countries, the total of independent Arab countries in the mid-1940s, to 24 – the number of all countries in the Arab regional system. The League has developed over the years and saw many restructuring attempts, reflecting the efforts to modernize the Arab regional system itself.
First: Establishment
A- General context
Although the call for Arab unity was proposed for several centuries, the idea of establishing a single Arab organization that brings together the Arab countries did not crystallize until the Second World War due to a number of Arab, regional and international factors.
On the Arab level, the Arab reality was the cornerstone of this historical development. On one hand, the war was an opportunity for the growth of national movements and resistance against colonialism, which reflected on the independence of an increasing number of Arab countries and created the need to establish balance between political forces.
On the other hand, the need for unity, coupled with the awareness of the dangers of the Zionist movement and the influx of Jewish immigration to Palestine, were reinforced by a role that the mandated state (the UK) did not neglect, in order to realize the dream of a Jewish state.
On the international level, the Second World War was followed by a transitional stage in the development of the international system. With regard to the UK in particular, it is important in analyzing its position on the founding of the League of Arab States to clarify the fact that its role was complementary or auxiliary, not a constructive or initiating role, because no state, no matter the size of its political hegemony in any given historical era, is capable of creating an idea out of nothing.
B- Executive steps
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Nahhas took the initiative and invited Syrian Prime Minister Jamil Mardam and the head of the Lebanese National Bloc Beshara Al-Khoury to discuss with them in Cairo the idea of "establishing a League of Arab States to boost relations among its members." This was the first time that the idea of the League of Arab States was clearly raised. Al-Nahhas reiterated the Egyptian government's readiness to solicit the opinions of Arab governments on the issue of unity and to hold a conference to discuss it. The idea was lauded by the then ruler of Jordan Prince Abdullah. As a result, a series of bilateral consultations began between Egypt on one side and representatives of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Yemen on the other.
When a preparatory committee made up of representatives from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Yemen (in the capacity of observers) met in 1944 between 25 September and 7 October, it preferred calling for the unity of the independent Arab states without affecting their independence and sovereignty. The committee also decided to name the association that embodies this unity as "the League of Arab States", instead of "alliance" or "union", because "alliance" refers to a temporary relationship and "union" expresses a relationship that negates the terms of reference agreed by the emerging Arab organisation. In light of this, the Alexandria Protocol was drafted, becoming the League's first document. It stipulated the following principles:
A-Politically
It was noticed with the start of the League Council meetings that there was no committee to look into political affairs, which is one of the activities of the League. Article 2 of the charter did not mention that the six permanent committees included a committee specialised in political issues. The Political Committee was formed on 30 November 1946 with the intensified conflict in Palestine with the forces of Zionism and the emergence of the need to activate political consultations between member states and coordinate their positions in this regard. In 1951, after five years of the committee's work, the League Council decided to open its membership to heads of government and heads of state delegations to the League.
The most important work accomplished by the committee was: the crystallisation of the joint defence and economic cooperation treaty, preparing the agenda of the Arab summits and submitting its reports to the meetings of those summits, which was already achieved in the first five summits, as well as coordinating Arab positions on some international issues.
The first Arab summit was held in Cairo in 1964 against the backdrop of Israel diverting the course of the Jordan River. The League decided to hold its summits on an annual basis particularly due to the bigger and increasingly complex role Arab summits were playing on the Arab level, starting with the attempt of summits to establish institutions, whether stipulated in the charter or not, such as the Arab Court of Justice and a mechanism for settling and preventing disputes between Arab countries.
The Cairo Summit, held in October 2000, adopted a decision stipulating the principle of the periodicity of the summit and its inclusion in an appendix to the charter. The text of the resolution was as follows: The Arab leaders, meeting at this critical stage, decide to adopt the mechanism for the regular periodic convening of the Arab Summit, which was approved by the Council of the League of Arab States in its last session (114th), and its final version was approved by the Arab foreign ministers' preparatory meeting for this summit... The Arab leaders express their confidence that the regular convening of the Arab summit will contribute to supporting joint Arab action in all fields, especially the economic field.
Just as the Arab-Israeli conflict was the motive for holding the first Arab summit to confront Israeli ambitions in Arab waters, it was also the reason for the institutionalisation of the summit and the adoption of its periodicity following the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising on 28 September 2000 and the escalation of Israeli policies of repression in an unprecedented manner to quell it.
B-Strategically
Linking the economic and strategic (or security) fields through the Treaty of Mutual Defence and Economic Cooperation signed in 1950, which represents an early realisation of the multiplicity of security dimensions and their transcendence of the security or military dimension.
On one hand, the treaty stipulated in its sixth article the formation of a joint defence council that can take decisions binding on all members by a two-thirds majority, which was considered at the time a qualitative leap that addresses the point of requiring consensus in the decisions of the League, and not binding decisions taken by a majority for those who do not agree with them. In fact, a number of regional and international factors facilitated taking this advanced step within the framework of developing the League on a regional level.
The French aggression against Syria and Lebanon in 1945 and the absence of an Arab mechanism to deal with the violence led the Arab countries to resort to the United Nations. There was a need for the Arab bloc to confront the Israeli threat after the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Syria submitted a proposal to conclude a treaty of political-military alliance between the League countries in 1948, and its proposal was referred to the Political Committee, which in turn formed a special committee known as the Collective Solidarity Committee, which received ideas and projects from Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, and the conclusion of the treaty was one of its outcomes.
On the international level, there was an Arab desire, expressed by the United States jointly with France and the UK, for a "Tripartite Declaration," which aimed to subordinate the priorities of the Arab-Israeli conflict to the priorities of the conflict between the eastern and western camps through the integration of Israel with the Arab countries in a Middle Eastern defence system known as the Defence Organisation of the Middle East. Hence, it was necessary to confront these pressures through a national strategic identity that serves as an umbrella for the Arab countries that would be shielded by a national system that has a security basis.
Indeed, the Mutual Defence Treaty expressed the keenness to enhance collective security, by stipulating that peaceful means were the way to settle disputes between all parties, and that they may not enter into any international agreements that contradict the treaty. These principles enrich the charter by developing mechanisms for strengthening Arab national security.
As noted, the treaty established four entities in the field of collective security, which are:
C-Economically
The treaty called for bolstering Arab economic relations and legalising them. From there emerged the idea of establishing an economic council that would have an advisory role by presenting its proposals to the governments of Arab countries on what it deems necessary to enhance Arab economic cooperation.
It is worth noting that this economic aspect of the joint Arab action represented a major concern of the League of Arab States since its founding, expressed by the relevant Economic and Social Council resolution regarding the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Arab Trade Exchange in 1953, and directed the conclusion of the Arab Economic Unity Agreement in 1957. Then a decision was issued to establish the Arab Common Market in 1964.
However, the importance of joint Arab economic action soon increased, pushing joint Arab action during periods of crisis in Arab political relations. This happened when the Arab regime suffered a rift over the settlement policies with Israel starting in 1977, after which the Amman summit was held in 1980. The summit adopted the principle of national planning in directing and developing joint Arab action, and approved documents related to the strategy of joint Arab economic action, the National Economic Action Charter, the joint development project, and the unified investment agreement.
This was repeated after the second Gulf War, when the summit held in Cairo in 1996 took a decision assigning the Economic and Social Council to expedite the establishment of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area. The council set an executive programme for the establishment of the free trade are over a period of 10 years, starting on 1 January 1998. The Amman Summit in 2001 was also called an "economic summit." The summit adopted the Egyptian initiative for holding the first Arab economic conference in Cairo in November 2001 under the slogan "Improving the Performance of Arab Economies".
D-Legally
The project for the formation of an Arab Court of Justice reflects the most prominent institutional development efforts by the League of Arab States at the legal level.
The League's charter stipulated that it may be amended in three cases, one of which is the establishment of an Arab Court of Justice. This was crucial in view of the fact that the establishment of the court addressed one of the shortcomings of the means of settling disputes.
The Alexandria Summit in 1964 took a decision to establish the court. In 1980, the League Council decided to form a committee to draw up the court's statute.
The committee finished its task in 1982, but without defining the areas of the court's mandate. Therefore, according to the decision of the Fez summit in 1982, another committee was formed. The committee prepared a draft that was presented to the League Council much later, in 1994. In 1995, the project was transferred to the Permanent Legal Committee, which formulated an integrated project, with the following elements being its basis:
The draft awaits the approval of member states of its provisions in order to become effective.
Another development project related to settling disputes between members of the League of Arab States is the establishment of a mechanism for the prevention, management and settlement of disputes. Tunisia presented this project in the 104th session of the League Council, which was held on 20-21 September 1995. The League Council approved the project on 21 September 1995 and assigned a specialised committee to formulate the mechanism in its final form.
Third: Structure
The League of Arab States comprises three main branches established in accordance with the provisions of the charter: the League's Council, its permanent committees, and the General Secretariat.
Other entities were established by the Joint Arab Defence Treaty concluded in 1950 and decisions issued by the Council of the League of Arab States. The League also established or encouraged the establishment of specialised organisations with the aim of grouping economic and social activities on technical bases and freeing them, to one degree or another, from political complications. Furthermore, other bodies established included ministerial councils concerned with health, tourism and domestic security affairs.
The three main entities established by the charter are:
A-The Council of the League of Arab States
The council is the highest authority in the League. It consists of representatives of all member states, including the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and each of them has one vote, regardless of the number of representatives.
Member states have the right to appoint their representatives, be they presidents or other officials, without changing the nature of the council. According to Article 3 of the charter, the council is responsible for achieving the following purposes:
B-Permanent committees
The charter's Article 4 stipulates the formation of a number of permanent committees concerned with various fields of cooperation among the member states. These committees later created more committees to meet the developments of Arab-Arab relations, as was the case with the political committee established by practice, not by an express text in the charter. Representation in each of the permanent committees is carried out by one delegate from each country, who has one vote.
The Council of the League of Arab States appoints the head of each committee for a renewable term of two years. The decisions of the committees are issued by the majority of votes of the member states. The committees have the right to form subcommittees specialised in technical affairs and are entitled to invite experts from member states to benefit from their expertise when need be.
The committees played in a role in finalising many agreements sealed by member states, that is besides the Mutual Defence and Economic Cooperation Agreement, the Arab Union Agreement, the Extradition Agreement and the Protocol for the Treatment of Palestinians in Arab Countries.
C-The general secretariat
Article 12 of the Charter of the League of Arab States regulates the status of the general secretariat of the League, formed of a secretary-general, assistant secretaries and a number of employees. The League Council appoints the Secretary-General by a two-thirds majority for a renewable period of five years, while the Secretary-General -- with the approval of the Council -- appoints the assistant secretaries and the main staff in the League. Previous secretaries-general include: Abdel-Rahman Azzam, Mohamed Abdel-Khaleq Hassouna, Mahmoud Riad, Al-Shazly Al-Qulibi, Dr. Ismat Abdel Meguid, Amr Moussa and Dr. Nabil Al-Araby. The statute defines the duties of the Secretary-General as follows:
Fourth: The role of the League of Arab States
Throughout its history, the League of Arab States has been able to play four main roles that can be briefly referred to as follows:
A-Contributing to the Arab countries gaining their independence. The role of the League emerged in supporting liberation efforts in Algeria, the Sultanate of Oman, Yemen, Sudan, and others. Such a role was the direct reason for the expansion of the membership of the League to 22 Arab countries, while the number of signatories to the founding charter is seven.
B-Participation in the settlement of some Arab-Arab disputes. The League's ability in this field has been linked to the degree of acceptance of its role by the conflicting parties, noting that the authority of the League does not supersede the powers of the members. The League also established a temporary security force during the Kuwait-Iraq conflict in 1961, and developed the diplomacy of the Arab summit conferences.
C-Encouraging Arab-Arab cooperation through a group of specialised organisations formed at various levels within and outside the framework of the League. Within the framework of the League, organisations were established and their activities expanded to include issues of employment, economic and social development, scientific and cultural affairs, and the means of communication and media. Some organisations developed further, such as the Arab Labour Organisation, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Organisation for Education, Culture and Science, the Arab States Broadcasting Union, and the Arab Telecommunications Union.
Outside the framework of the League, the Arab Trade Union's activities thanks to the efforts of the League and the continuous coordination between its bodies. Hence the formation of the unions of lawyers, doctors, journalists, jurists and labourers, etc.
D-Representing Arab countries in various international forums and organisations, such as the United Nations and its specialised organisations and the Organisation of African Unity, and cooperating with the latter to form a range of joint institutions, such as the Arab Bank for Development in Africa and the Arab Loan Fund.
Moreover, the role of the League of Arab States as a party in dialogue with Europe in the 1970s cannot be overlooked.
Member States of the League of Arab States and date of accession:
The Organization has the singular honor to galvanize the Ummah into a unified body and have actively represented the Muslims by espousing all causes close to the hearts of over 1.5 billion Muslims of the world. The Organization has consultative and cooperative relations with the UN and other inter-governmental organizations to protect the vital interests of the Muslims and to work for the settlement of conflicts and disputes involving Member States. In safeguarding the true values of Islam and the Muslims, the organization has taken various steps to remove misperceptions and has strongly advocated elimination of discrimination against Muslims in all forms and manifestations.
Establishment:
The Organization was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco on 12th Rajab 1389 Hijra (25 September 1969) following the criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
General Secretariat:
In 1970 the first ever meeting of Islamic Conference of Foreign Minister (ICFM) was held in Jeddah which decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Jeddah headed by the organization’s secretary general. Amb. Hissein Brahim Taha is the 12th Secretary General who assumed the office in November 2021.
Key Bodies:
the Islamic Summit, the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), the General Secretariat, in addition to the Al-Quds Committee and three permanent committees concerned with science and technology, economy and trade, and information and culture. There are also specialized organs under the banner of the OIC including the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as well as subsidiary and affiliate organs that play a vital role in boosting cooperation in various fields among the OIC member states.
The organization's program for the next decade (2016-2025):
The new programme OIC-2025 is anchored in the provisions of the OIC Charter and focuses on 18 priority areas with 107 goals. The priority areas include issues of Peace and Security, Palestine and Al-Quds, Poverty Alleviation, Counter-terrorism, Investment and Finance, Food Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change and Sustainability, Moderation, Culture and Interfaith Harmony, Empowerment of Women, Joint Islamic Humanitarian Action, Human Rights and Good Governance, among others.
Bahrain and OIC: The Kingdom of Bahrain joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on July 29, 1972. The Kingdom has been following up the organization's work, participating in its meetings and activities, and interacting with its decisions, based on the Kingdom's Islamic heritage and its keenness to unite the Islamic nation.
The United Nations consists of six main organs that all work in cooperation to achieve its goals and principles stipulated in its charter, which are:
General Assembly: The General Assembly is the main policy-making organ of the Organization. It includes all 193 member states of the United Nations and meets annually in the General Assembly Hall to discuss general issues and make recommendations.
Security Council: The core responsibility of this body is sustaining international peace and security. The Council has of 15 members (5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members). It holds its meetings to discuss global security issues and to take the necessary decisions.
International Court of Justice: The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
Economic and Social Council: The Council works to coordinate economic and social actions and to promote sustainable development and international cooperation in these issues.
Trusteeship Council: The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision over the Trust Territories and to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence.
Establishment: Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was officially founded in 1961, at the Belgrade Summit, drawing on the principles (also known as Bandung Principles) agreed at the Afro-Asian Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955.
Such principles were adopted later as the main goals and objectives of the policy of non-alignment. They are as follows:
Non-Aligned Movement Members and Observers: There are currently 120 NAM member states and 17 NAM observer states.
Bahrain and the Non-Aligned Movement: The Kingdom of Bahrain has been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement since 1972.
The Military Committee also presides over the military institutions, which enrich NATO's political decision-making process with military intelligence and information.
NATO consists of 31 member states: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro (Montenegro), Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America. The main feature of NATO is collective defense, which obliges all members of the alliance to consider an armed attack on one member state as an attack on all member states.
History of the Kingdom of Bahrain's relations with NATO:
What governs the relationship between the Kingdom of Bahrain and NATO is the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which makes it a platform for cooperation, integration and interoperability between the member states of the initiative and the countries allied to NATO. Therefore, the relationship between the Kingdom of Bahrain and NATO takes on a military and training character. The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative is a partnership forum that aims to contribute to global and regional security in the long term by providing an opportunity for non-NATO countries in the broader Middle East region to cooperate with NATO.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates participate in the initiative, while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman participate in selected activities within this initiative, which was established at the NATO summit in 2004 in Istanbul to promote security cooperation on a bilateral basis between NATO and partner countries in the Middle East. The initiative is open to all countries in the Middle East that support the objectives and principles of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
The activities under the Initiative range from defense planning and defense budgeting to the fight against terrorism, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and civil preparedness. The initiative is also based on a foundation of six core principles: non-discrimination, self-differentiation, two-way engagement, non-imposition, diversity and complementarity to other international initiatives in the region. These principles are the basis for Bahrain-NATO cooperation in the context of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is an active participant in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, as it hosted the largest-ever Policy Advisory Group in May 2023, and contributed to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
It is worth noting that the Kingdom of Bahrain was identified as a primary non-NATO ally in 2002 by the United States of America, and increasing cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and NATO is a common priority, as NATO confirmed this at the NATO summit in Brussels in June 2021, when the Allied Heads of State and Government reiterated their commitment to the region, saying: "We are committed to promoting our long-term engagement in the Middle East and North Africa. We will promote our political dialogue and practical cooperation with our partners in the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative." In this context, and from this platform, cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and NATO is based.
The security authorities classified as participants in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative by the Kingdom of Bahrain are: