There were no celebrations, media coverage was minimal, and border crossings weren’t noticeably busier than any other New Year’s Day. But there is a flag, there are plans for a common currency, and there is certainly much ambiguity in the air about the launch of the Gulf Cooperation Council Common Market, which, for the lack of an official abbreviation, will be referred to as the Gulf Common Market (GCM). The GCM came into effect on January 1, 2008, after 27 years in the pipeline, with the lofty aim of becoming the region’s equivalent to the European Union. At present the common market resembles the European Economic Community (EEC), the forerunner of the EU, or for that matter other regional blocs, such as the Central American Common Market (CACM), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Union of South American Nations (Unasul). The GCM has a structure, a
