Who are the GCC states and what unites them?
They are the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
All six are monarchies, with Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE absolute or (in the case of UAE) federal monarchies. Denominationally, Bahrain has a Sunni king ruling over a Shia minority. Qaboos bin Said Al Busaidi, the Sultan of Oman, is an Ibadi Muslim. Oman is more or less equally split between Sunni and the ascetic Ibadi. Kuwait is two-thirds Sunni and one-third Shia. Its rulers complain the Iran is inciting its Shia minority. An attack by Islamic State on a Shiite mosque in June 2015 led to calls for unity which were led by its Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad, a Sunni.
The United Arab Emirates was formed from seven sheikhdoms, of which Dubai is the largest, followed by Abu Dhabi. The others are Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah. The Emirs are all Sunni Muslims, but Shia Muslims are granted freedom to worship, and maintain their mosques
Qatar is also a Sunni-Muslim-majority kingdom. Its Shia minority also have freedom to practice their religion. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the current Emir and his Sunni Al Thani family own the TV news station Al-Jazeera, now reported to be in financial trouble. Qatar is one of only two Salafi states in the Muslim world.
The other Sunni-Muslim Salafi state is Saudi Arabia.
None of the six GCC states is ruled by a Shia Muslim.
