Despite its name, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is no stranger to tension and competition between its members. Some of these differences will doubtless come to light over the course of the 37th annual GCC summit, which kicked off on Tuesday in Manama, Bahrain. Though the GCC's leaders gather at dozens of high-level meetings each year, the annual summit functions as a sort of state of the union, a chance for the group to flesh out its shared policy priorities. The meeting will showcase the bloc's unity, a testament as much to the GCC's carefully crafted image as to the ties that bind the group together. At the same time, it will highlight the underlying divisions that have always existed in the GCC. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates demonstrates that the GCC is not a monolith, even when its members are strategically aligned.