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Emir is a traditional rank in an Islamic governmental structure. It was awarded during several historic periods, including the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. In most cases, emirs were military rulers who governed a specific area of land. During some eras, however, the title was used for high-ranking administrative officials. In modern times, several nations, such as Qatar, have revived the office. Alim Khan (1880-1944), Emir of Bukhara. By Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic partnership composed of six Persian Gulf countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Formed amid warfare and political tensions in nearby Middle Eastern nations, the council was intended to foster friendship and collective security among member states by encouraging collaborative militaries, commerce, and communications as well as educational and cultural exchanges. In the early twenty-first century, the main international issues facing the GCC were an increasingly powerful Iran and the terrorist organization the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).