User:A Contemporary Nomad/sandbox

Headline: On the inclusion of Iraq in this article (Part 1 of a multi-part series to clean up the article)

@Contemporary Nomad believe that the discussed article suffer from multiple issues (some are unrelated) that makes discussion around improving the article difficult and confusing. Out of belief that process is important @Contemporary Nomad suggests to break up the issues and deal with them one by one in isolation (although not a rule) to make sure the article adhere to WP:NPOV and to reach a consensus on the best course to take to meet Wikipedia policies on verifiability, notability, and neutral point of view.

Please note that this is not a vote but a constructive discussion on the article and its content to reach a consensus. Everyone is encouraged to join in the discussion but please refrain from simply casting a vote.

The current discussion revolves around the inclusion of Iraq among the 'Arab states of the Persian Gulf'.


 * This article was created in 5 November 2005 by @Jungli under the title 'Arab states of the Persian Gulf'. Its introduction stated that: 'The Arab Gulf states are a group of six Arab countries that border the Persian Gulf. These countries are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. These six countries form the members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf'. The article remained more or less unchanged (with the exception of a major edit war spilled over from the Persian Gulf naming dispute in Wikipedia) until August 2013 when user @Insomniaingest included Iraq in the article introduction in a series of consecutive edit while also removing the unsourced claim that: 'Saudi Arabia is a hereditary monarchy with limited political representation' (Please note that much of the article was unsourced and remained that way for a long time). @Insomniaingest also added three sources for the inclusion of Iraq. Following the historical pattern of the article, the article remained almost unchanged, again, except for the ongoing WP:WAR with the new additions being swept under the rug. In December 2014 @Sudopeople added a new map to the article which is the same as the old map with the inclusion of Iraq. The issue of Iraq inclusion also became part of the WP:WAR infesting the article with removal and reverts by IP users and Wikipedians.

Definition and WP:COMMONNAME
One of the underlying issues in the article is the ambiguity of the article title and its introduction. Does ASPG refer to a geographical or a socio-political grouping? and which one is more accurate. In order to asses and fix the article issues the article main objective must be properly defined.

The Persian Gulf region is home to eight neighboring countries: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Six of those countries are member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. All of those countries with the exception of Iran are part of the Arab League. Although Iraq status as solely an Arab nation is a matter of contention. Iraq recognize two official languages (Arabic and Kurdish), Iraq is also home for many non-Arab ethnic groups (Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabaks, Armenians, Mandaeans, Circassians, Sabians and Kawliya) and the new Iraqi government post-Baathist reign have moved toward stressing Iraq multiethnic heritage.ref However Iraq remains a majority Arabic speaking nation and is referred to as such commonly by the media in its relation with the Arab world.

Geographical argument
The argument in favor of a geographical grouping is based on the premise that such listing is in reference to the Arab states alongside the Persian Gulf, that includes the seven aforementioned nations. Such grouping (Arab states alongside a specific body of water) is unique to wikipedia, as there are no other articles that group arabs as such, not along the Arabian sea, the Red sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic ocean. This path will boil down to [ WP:OSE ], while avoiding the WP:Standard fallacy it's important to the discussion to whether this is the main article objective or not (WP:N).

Socio-political argument
The argument in favor of a socio-political grouping is based on the premise that the states referenced in the article share a common socio-political identity that makes them notable in the context of Middle Eastern and Arab world. All of the seven aforementioned nations are part of the Arab League a political union that stretch from Western Asia in the Persian gulf all the way to Western North Africa in the Atlantic ocean. Six of them are a member of a regional political organization called the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC countries share many similarities in that they're all absolute monarchies and all are located in the Arabian Peninsula (Eastern Arabia specifically).

In the modern era post-GCC Formation, the Arabic term Khaleeji (خليجي) (literally: 'Gulfi') have come to denote to citizens of the GCC bloc known colloquially as such in the Arab world, even in the press (example: CNN Arabic on Gulf states coronavirus cases) and the popular media (example: Egyptian comedy show on Khaleeji stereotypes). These states share cultural similarities in traditional clothing, language, economics, and modern geopolitical history. The ethnic makeup of the GCC countries is made up of a majority of tribal Arabs who inhabits the Arabian Peninsula (Tribe and State in the Contemporary Arabian Peninsula).

There isn't a regional political union that unites Iraq with the other GCC nations in the Arabian Peninsula.

What the sources say
There are sources that refer to GCC states solely as ASPG and sources that include Iraq in the geographic scope of the Persian gulf. differentiating between the two is important to understand whether the source refers to the geographic listing or socio-political listing. And which one this articles should be (WP:COMMONNAME).

In order to determine that we will look at what primary sources refer to when they mention ASPG. We will look at scholarly sources, press (English, Arabic, and Persian), and organizations name/listing.

This will be done in the research section below.

Research
The following is a list of sources that uses the ASPG term to refer to the socio-political grouping of the member states of the GCC:

Scholarly sources

 * Madawi Al-Rasheed review of J. E. Peterson’s book 'The Emergence of the Gulf States'.


 * Oil monarchies: domestic and security challenges in the Arab Gulf States by FG Gause.


 * Gulf Nationalism and Invented Traditions by Natalie Koch.


 * The Making of the Modern Gulf States by R.S Zahlan.


 * Tribal Social Evolution and Gender: Conflict in Urbanized Tribal Units by Alanoud Alsharekh.


 * Globalisation and Higher Education in the Arab Gulf States by Gari Donn and Yayha Al Manthri.


 * The Arab Gulf States: Beyond Oil and Islam by Sean Foley.


 * Culture and Customs of the Arab Gulf States by Rebecca L. Torstrick and Elizabeth Faier.


 * Internal and External Security in the Arab Gulf States by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.


 * Arab Gulf States : an assessment of nationalisation policies by Steffen Hertog.


 * Barriers, Risks and Policies for Renewables in the Gulf States by Johan Lilliestam.


 * Popular Culture and Political Identity in the Arab Gulf States by Alanoud Alsharekh and Robert Springborg.


 * Life after Oil: Economic Alternatives for the Arab Gulf States by J. E. Peterson.

Media sources

 * English: BBC (1), BBC (2), BBC (3), CNN, Bloomberg (1), Bloomberg (2), Bloomberg (3), Bloomberg (4), Bloomberg (5), Times of Israel, AlJazeera, AlArabiya, The New Yorker, NPR, The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), The Guardian (3), The Guardian (4), Japan Times (1), Japan Times (2), South China Morning Post.


 * Arabic: KUNA, Russia Today Arabic, Sputnik Arabic, Al-Iqistadiya, Al-Rai, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Sanadeq, AlKhaleej, Emarat News, AlWatan.


 * Persian/Farsi: Khabar Online, Sputnik Afghnistan, Islamic Republic News Agency, SNN, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DW Farsi.

Organizations

 * European Commission - Gulf countries.
 * UNESCO Gulf States and Yemen.
 * UNESCO World Heritage in the Gulf Region.
 * International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Gulf Development Conference.
 * World Bank - Gulf Economic Monitor.
 * World Health Organization (WHO) - Media centre.
 * The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.