The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announcement during the Heads of State summit held recently in Riyadh to invite Jordan and Morocco to join their regional organisation has surprised almost everyone; perhaps the biggest surprise was experienced by Moroccan officials, which unlike Jordan never approached the GCC for a membership in the first place. To understand this surprising change in the GCC foreign policy, it is necessary to shed light on some key changes in the regional and global geopolitical landscapes.