Why Constructivism is Able to Give More Answers than Institutionalism

The theory of institutionalism is built on the assumption that states are interested in maximising their utility, and this assumption makes it hard to understand the origin of institutions and to understand how international institutions vary according to the culture and political interest of their surroundings.²⁴⁸ Constructivists do not share the commonly accepted belief held by institutionalists that “„man‟ is a hard-nosed short-run profit-maximizer suspicious of everyone he deals with.”²⁴⁹ Unlike constructivism,

“[Institutionalism] does not take in account the impact of social process of reflection or learning on the preferences of individuals or on the organizations that they direct.”²⁵⁰ Institutionalism cannot explain why change happens, while constructivism can.²⁵¹

246 Koh, H. (1997) p. 2646.

247 Ibid, p. 2659.

248 Keohane (1996), p 199.

249 Dore, (1983), p. 469.

250 Keohance (1996), p 201.

251 Ibid.

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2.3.4 Conclusion

This chapter beings this theoretical discussion by briefly introducing international institutional law to illustrate where it fits within the field of international law. It also outlined the different types of international institutions to place the GCC within current typologies and to situate the focus of this thesis. It argued that the GCC is a regional or closed, inter-governmental institution, not supra-national or general.

This theoretical chapter then discussed, analysed and evaluated various related theories in international law and international relations. These theories are the basis of the analysis in the following chapters. There are many methods to analyse what constitutes law, but this chapter argues that legal positivism, which mainly focuses on what the law is and not what the law should be, is the best way to determine what the law is or if a law actually exists. It focuses on the development of Hart‟s legal positivist theory, which states that a legal system has to have two kinds of rules: primary rules which tell what individuals have or do not have to do, and secondary rules which consist of three elements: rules of recognition, rules of change and rule of adjudication.²⁵² Hart‟s theory is further developed by the legalisation theory established by Abbott, Keohane, Moravcsil, Slaughter and Snidal.²⁵³ This theory states that legal rules are measured based on three elements: obligation, delegation and precision, in order to classify them accordingly between hard and soft law.²⁵⁴ This chapter discusses this approach to analyse the laws that the GCC is creating, by which it governs itself and governs the cooperation between member countries. This approach will be applied throughout this thesis but mainly in chapter six (the GCC law making process). This chapter will use Hart‟s positivist theory and Abbott et al‟s legalisation theory to analyses the GCC‟s gradual process of law creation. It will argue that the GCC‟s process of law creation is by creating soft law first then, after the member countries have got used to the new proposals, the GCC would encourage the member countries to adopt this soft law as a

252 Hart (1961).

253Abbott (2001), p, 18.

254 See Abbott (2001), p. 19.

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hard law. It will highlight the fact that many soft laws were created by the GCC and then adopted in the national laws of each member country with their full will and without any enforcement by the GCC upon them.

This chapter has, also, discussed a variety of key IR theories including idealism, realism, institutionalism and constructivism. This provides the theoretical framework for chapter seven (pressure and identity: the future of the GCC) which applies neorealism, institutionalism and constructivism to this study of the GCC to enrich the positivist analysis outlined in chapter six (the GCC law making process). This chapter adopts a neorealist perspective to argue that the main motivation of states‟ international action is their survival and to analyse the GCC response to the Arab Spring. It also uses the constructivist theory of change to analyse the reason behind the Arab Spring. The emphasis on the importance of international institutions and the importance of their independence throughout this thesis is mainly inspired by institutionalist theory and the belief that international institutions have a key role in contemporary international relations. The fourth chapter of this thesis (the establishment of the GCC) uses a realist concept to analyse the reason behind the existence of the GCC, namely the concept of the balance of power. Before moving on to consider these issues, it is first necessary to start with an historic overview of the development of GCC states and the cooperation between them as this provides the background to the establishment of the GCC and addresses the balance of power.

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Chapter Three - The History and Development of the Gulf States and Cooperation between Them

3.1 Introduction

In order to achieve a better understanding of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this chapter briefly traces the history of GCC member countries. This history helps outline the reasons that led the leaders of the member countries to set up the GCC in the first place. Even before member countries were established as individual states, there were political entities governed by powerful families on the west side of the Gulf.¹ Each family governed its area; namely, Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Khalifa in Bahrain, Al-Sabah in Kuwait, Al-Bu Said in Oman, Al-Thani in Qatar and Al-Saud in Saudi Arabia.² Before the end of World War I in 1918, these ruling families, apart from Al-Saud, had been ruling their areas with different levels of political independence under Ottoman Suzerainty.³ After the end of the war, these ruling families, apart from Al-Saud, came under the protection of Britain.⁴ Tracing this history reveals the reason behind the division in political systems between GCC members and the rest of the Arab world.

This history also reveals the background of the GCC membership system which is more open to Arab royal systems. It reveals, as well, the similarity and differences between member countries, which are divided on the expected role of the GCC. When the leaders decided to launch the GCC they had different opinions about what kind of organisation the GCC should be: some were more focused on security cooperation (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman) and others more on economic cooperation (Kuwait).

This chapter discusses several key historical events that raised the significance of creating the GCC including the British withdrawal from the Gulf (1961-1971) and the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1970. Also in 1970, an energy crisis arose

1 Albaharna (1973), p.40.

2 Yapp, M. (1980), p. 41 & Albaharna (1973), p.40.

3 Albaharna (1968), p. 2.

4 It may be worth mentioning that the background of these royal families reveals that their power did not start from being tribe leaders but as royal leaders with different Arabic terminology such as: King, Amir, Imam or Sultan. The difference between this kind of leadership and a tribe leader is that the latter would lead only his tribe wherever they go while the former would lead the people in a given area no matter their tribe.

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after the war between Egypt and Israel: there was a rise in the cost of petrol and in the demand for it in industrialised countries, which was problematic considering that two thirds of the world‟s oil comes from the Gulf. Additionally, there was the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War of 1980. These events muddled the balance of power between opposing countries in the Gulf which raised the threat facing the area and the West worried about the safety of the Gulf because there was no balance of power in the region. On the other hand, GCC leaders, concerned about the safety of their countries, debated the potential of creating a very strong economic block.

This chapter relies on resource material written about the history of the region as well as the material published by the GCC and the statements of GCC leaders. This resource material provides this chapter with the needed information to analyse the background of the motivation of creation the GCC as well as the way this organisation functions. The analysis of this chapter is built on examining the statements of GCC bodies as well as the statements of the leaders of member countries in the light of these historical facts.

In this historical study, more focus is given to the ruling system of the member countries, the British influence and the effect of that on the GCC.