The stability and security of the Arabian Gulf is essential to the global community and of strategic interest to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 2004, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) was launched as a partnership between NATO and the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to increase cooperation and enhance global and regional security. However, as the ICI approaches its 20th anniversary, recent global and regional geopolitical shifts have introduced new dynamics and challenges to the future of the partnership. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has rejuvenated NATO’s focus on European security and the recent effort to restore diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, facilitated by China, presents the potential for a seismic shift in regional geopolitics with improving relations between the two regional rivals. Furthermore, the recent addition of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) framework demonstrates a willingness of GCC nations to pursue non-Western alternatives. Therefore, NATO finds itself competing against Chinese and Russian advances into the Arabian Gulf region while regional security threats to the GCC involving Iran potentially decrease. Along with these geopolitical events, this research explored the historical, military, and economic factors that influenced the development of the partnership between NATO and the nations of the GCC. This research leveraged Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) and a qualitative method to analyze the existing literature, official documents, and interviews with experts in the field to understand the factors influencing the topic and develop useful policy recommendations. This analysis argues that economic development is an emergent referent object for the nations of the GCC and that focusing NATO’s regional efforts on security cooperation to enhance economic prosperity provides an advantageous pathway to address the recent geopolitical changes and maintain NATO’s relevance in the regional security framework. This research aspires to serve as a foundational document providing essential information, knowledge, and perspective for individuals seeking to understand the region and the partnership between NATO and the nations of the GCC.