ABSTRACT
Adopting a political–economic perspective, this chapter presents the relations between Brazil and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, highlighting not only the opportunities and difficulties hampering greater interactions but also the areas that offer more promise at the time of writing. It addresses the Brazilian government's perspective of the Qatar blockade. The absence of a negative agenda in Brazil–GCC relations is indicative of a growing relationship unencumbered and untested by major conflicting interests. Saudi Arabia is Brazil's main commercial partner in the Middle East and its second largest oil supplier after Nigeria. Relations with Kuwait were also established in 1968 when the Embassy of Brazil in Cairo started to also represent Brazil to the Kuwaiti authorities. Bahrain is the Gulf country with which Brazil has the least contact. The United Arab Emirates is Brazil's second-largest commercial partner in the region. Brazil is the Latin American country with an embassy in Oman, and Brasilia hosts the Omani Embassy in South America.
