Leaders of six Arab states ended their 26th Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. They made many landmark decisions on key areas such as defence, a nuclear-free region, economic integration, terrorism and peace in the Middle East. They repeatedly warned against a possible nuclear arms race in the region. Members asked Israel to become a nuclear-free state but didn’t mention Iran by name in their talks on the nuclear issue. A spokesman said: “We don't want to see the Iranian nuclear reactor, which is closer to our coast than to Tehran, as a cause of peril and damage to us.”

Iraq was high on the agenda of issues discussed. All member states said they hoped a new, peaceful and prosperous Iraq would emerge from invasions and occupation. The Council condemned all acts of terrorism in Iraq, especially “the deliberate mass killing of Iraqis …committed by the former Iraqi regime”. The Council also said “unearthed mass graves are in flagrant violation of…Islamic and Arab principles, ethics and values”. The summit created the ‘Abu Dhabi Declaration’, which stresses the importance of improved education to meet the global challenges ahead for the region.

WARM-UPS

1. SENTENCE STARTERS: Complete the following six sentence starters about the Gulf Arab states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates). Talk about your completed sentences with your partner(s).

Gulf Arab states are _____________________________________________________.

Gulf Arab states aren’t ___________________________________________________.

Gulf Arab states will _____________________________________________________.

Gulf Arab states can _____________________________________________________.

Gulf Arab states should ___________________________________________________.

Gulf Arab states play _____________________________________________________.

2. GCC: What do you know of the Gulf Cooperation Council? In pairs / groups, share your knowledge of the member states. Change partners and repeat.

Saudi Arabia Kuwait Oman

Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Arab states / summits / Abu Dhabi / landmarks / decisions / peace / races / perils / issues / prosperity / occupation / mass graves / principles / values / the UAE

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. ARAB LANDS: In pairs / groups, talk about the following parts of Arab Gulf countries. Would each of these things make you want to visit or live there?

Duty-free shopping Deserts Futuristic cities Ancient archaeological sites

Camel racing The world’s only 7-star hotel Sun Major international sporting events

5. MIDDLE EAST OPINIONS: Discuss these opinions with your partner(s).

1. The Middle East has a very bright future.
2. Terrorism will never disappear from the Middle East.
3. There are too many damaging political rivalries between Arab countries.
4. Democracy will one day spread throughout the Middle East.
5. Iran will never make nuclear weapons.
6. A new generation of leaders will make the region very rich.
7. The Middle East is an amazing region.
8. The Middle East is an important center for many things in the world.

6. ARAB: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “Arab”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Leaders of 26 Arab nations met at a regional summit in Abu Dhabi.	T / F
b.	They made decisions to build record-breaking landmarks.	T / F
c.	They said they were worried about the spread of nuclear arms.	T / F
d.	The leaders are worried about Iran’s new nuclear power station.	T / F
e.	Iraq was low on the agenda of issues discussed.	T / F
f.	The leaders hoped a new, peaceful and prosperous Iraq.	T / F
g.	The Council condemned all acts of terrorism in Iraq.	T / F
h.	The summit created the ‘Dubai Declaration’ on improving education.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	ended	issues
b.	landmark	uncovered
c.	areas	danger
d.	arms	list
e.	peril	abuse
f.	agenda	wrapped up
g.	unearthed	highlights
h.	flagrant	important
i.	violation	scandalous
j.	stresses	weapons

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	They made many landmark	challenges ahead
b.	They repeatedly warned against	and damage to us
c.	didn’t mention Iran	agenda of issues discussed
d.	the Iranian nuclear	a possible nuclear arms race
e.	a cause of peril	Iraq would emerge
f.	Iraq was high on the	by name in their talks
g.	a new, peaceful and prosperous	of Islamic and Arab principles
h.	condemned all acts	reactor
i.	in flagrant violation	decisions on key areas
j.	meet the global	of terrorism in Iraq

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Arab Gulf nations call for nuclear-free region

Leaders of six Arab ________ ended their 26th Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. They made many landmark decisions on ________ areas such as defence, a nuclear-________ region, economic integration, terrorism and peace in the Middle East. They ________ warned against a possible nuclear arms race in the region. Members asked Israel to ________ a nuclear-free state but didn’t ________ Iran by name in their talks on the nuclear issue. A spokesman said: “We don't want to see the Iranian nuclear ________, which is closer to our ________ than to Tehran, as a cause of peril and damage to us.”		mention free states coast repeatedly reactor key become
Iraq was high on the ________ of issues discussed. All member states said they hoped a new, peaceful and ________ Iraq would emerge from invasions and ________. The Council condemned all ________ of terrorism in Iraq, especially “the deliberate mass killing of Iraqis …committed by the former Iraqi ________”. The Council also said “unearthed mass graves are in flagrant violation of…Islamic and Arab principles, ________ and values”. The summit ________ the ‘Abu Dhabi Declaration’, which stresses the importance of improved education to meet the global challenges ________ for the region.		ahead acts prosperous ethics agenda created occupation regime

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Arab Gulf nations call for nuclear-free region

Leaders of six Arab states ended their 26th Gulf Cooperation Council _______ in Abu Dhabi on Monday. They made many landmark decisions on ____ areas such as defence, a nuclear-free _______, economic integration, terrorism and peace in the Middle East. They repeatedly warned against a possible nuclear _____ race in the region. Members asked Israel to become a nuclear-free state but didn’t mention Iran by ______ in their talks on the nuclear issue. A spokesman said: “We don't want to see the Iranian nuclear reactor, which is closer to our coast than to Tehran, as a cause of ______ and damage to us.”

Iraq was high on the ________ of issues discussed. All member states said they hoped a new, peaceful and prosperous Iraq would ________ from invasions and occupation. The Council condemned all acts of terrorism in Iraq, especially “the deliberate ________ killing of Iraqis …committed by the former Iraqi regime”. The Council also said “unearthed mass graves are in flagrant violation of…Islamic and Arab principles, ethics and ________”. The summit created the ‘Abu Dhabi Declaration’, which ________ the importance of improved education to meet the global challenges ________ for the region.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘gulf’ and ‘state’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “ARAB STATES” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Arab nations and the influence they will have in the world in the future.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

ended landmark repeatedly Israel mention peril

agenda emerge especially graves created ahead

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Do you think the Middle East can be nuclear free?
3. Do you think Israel can promise not to have nuclear weapons?
4. Why do you think the Council wasn’t stronger in asking Iran to stop any nuclear weapons plans?
5. How would you feel if your neighboring country started building nuclear power stations right on your border?
6. Do you think the GCC can influence Iran?
7. What more do you think members of the GCC can do to fight international terrorism?
8. Do you think GCC states should be more involved in rebuilding Iraq?
9. What do you see happening in the Middle East over the next ten years?
10. Do you have confidence in Iran?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Do you think the Gulf Cooperation Council has a lot of power?
4. Why do you think other Arab nations are not members of the Gulf Cooperation Council?
5. Do you think an Arab economic region with a single currency would change the world?
6. Do you think Arab nations will emerge into more powerful economic countries similar to the Asian “tiger” economies?
7. What do you think are the global challenges ahead for the Arab Gulf region?
8. What do you know about Dubai, Riyadh, Muscat and Kuwait City?
9. Would you like to visit Abu Dhabi?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

MIDDLE EAST: You are a top advisor to the political leaders in the Middle East. Agree on a joint statement with the advisors in your group on the following issues. Outline the problems connected to these issues and your solutions:

	PROBLEMS	SOLUTIONS
An Arab economic union with a single currency.
Ethnic and political rivalries among Arab countries.
Iraq
Making the Middle East nuclear free.
The creation of a Palestinian state.
Improved education for Arab nations to meet the global challenges ahead

• Change partners. Share and compare your ideas. Give each other advice on how to improve your solutions.
• Change partners. Role play a discussion. You outline and defend your ideas and solutions, your partner picks holes in them.
• Discuss what you really think about these issues.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the Gulf Cooperation Council. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. MIDDLE EAST: Make a poster explaining the four biggest problems in the Middle East. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all include / write about similar things?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Tell him what you think member countries should do to forge ahead in the world. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	ended	wrapped up
b.	landmark	important
c.	areas	issues
d.	arms	weapons
e.	peril	danger
f.	agenda	list
g.	unearthed	uncovered
h.	flagrant	scandalous
i.	violation	abuse
j.	stresses	highlights

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	They made many landmark	decisions on key areas
b.	They repeatedly warned against	a possible nuclear arms race
c.	didn’t mention Iran	by name in their talks
d.	the Iranian nuclear	reactor
e.	a cause of peril	and damage to us
f.	Iraq was high on the	agenda of issues discussed
g.	a new, peaceful and prosperous	Iraq would emerge
h.	condemned all acts	of terrorism in Iraq
i.	in flagrant violation	of Islamic and Arab principles
j.	meet the global	challenges ahead

GAP FILL:

Arab Gulf nations call for nuclear-free region

Leaders of six Arab states ended their 26th Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. They made many landmark decisions on key areas such as defence, a nuclear-free region, economic integration, terrorism and peace in the Middle East. They repeatedly warned against a possible nuclear arms race in the region. Members asked Israel to become a nuclear-free state but didn’t mention Iran by name in their talks on the nuclear issue. A spokesman said: “We don't want to see the Iranian nuclear reactor, which is closer to our coast than to Tehran, as a cause of peril and damage to us.”

Iraq was high on the agenda of issues discussed. All member states said they hoped a new, peaceful and prosperous Iraq would emerge from invasions and occupation. The Council condemned all acts of terrorism in Iraq, especially “the deliberate mass killing of Iraqis …committed by the former Iraqi regime”. The Council also said “unearthed mass graves are in flagrant violation of…Islamic and Arab principles, ethics and values”. The summit created the ‘Abu Dhabi Declaration’, which stresses the importance of improved education to meet the global challenges ahead for the region.

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