EU policy towards the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Abstract

The European Union pursues an active foreign policy both in a form of bilateral ties with sovereign states and while interacting with regional associations. The article considers the strategic attractiveness of the Persian Gulf region for the European Union as well as EU's external regional policy (European interregionalism) towards the Gulf Cooperation Council. The paper analyzes the methodological basis of the European interregionalism, the goals and specific directions of the EU's policy in the region, the mechanisms for its implementation, strategic changes in the EU's policy while taking into account the Arab Spring. The authors conclude that the cooperation initially planned in Brussels on the basis of exporting the liberal values could not stand the test of the Arab Spring. In the Global Strategy of 2016 the EU introduced changes that envisage a differentiated approach in the policy of European interregionalism. In the final part, the authors draw the conclusion about the effectiveness of the new EU Global strategy towards the GCC. © 2019 Institute of Europe Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.