Author(s): Dr. Ethar Tareq Khaleel

Abstract: The Gulf crisis constituted a major and fundamental turning point in the history of the Arab region due to the resulting data that changed the course of Arab-Arab relations on the one hand and Arab regional relations on the other. If the Arab citizen has become accustomed to a stereotyped image through which he sees the Gulf relations as an integrative relationship based on the strength of the economy and the unity of politics, then the Gulf crisis has revealed a new image of that atypical relationship that has gone beyond the limits of the problem to form a crisis. Consequently, the Gulf states have been made a test of the consequences of this crisis on the region and its peoples, especially since the Gulf Cooperation Council states have been divided into two groups, one team siding with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against the State of Qatar, and another group taking a position of neutrality. This paper deals with the nature of that crisis and how the crisis was managed for both parties, leading to a set of results reached by the research, the most important of which are: 1- The results of the study also reflected a negative view of the possibility of the GCC countries to overcome their differences soon, and this is reinforced by their vision that is compatible with the incompatibility of the Qatari political vision with the rest of the GCC countries. 2- There is a negative mental image among the academic elite about the role played by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries towards the unity of Iraq, and the possibility of accepting it as a new member added to the GCC countries. Iraq to Kuwait in 1990. 3- There is a mental image of the academic elite that sees that the crisis between the two parties is more political than media, but its causes do not rise to the level of intellectual, religious or economic disputes or crises, which are usually characterized by depth and strong influence and repercussions.

Keywords: Mental image, GCC, academic elite and crises.

Article Info: Received: 24 April 2021; Received in revised form: 14 May 2021; Accepted: 25 May 2021; Available online: 02 Jun 2021

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.63.61