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After the failure of a small Peninsula Shield Force (PSF) to protect Kuwait in the lead up to the Gulf War in 1991, Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman, proposed to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that it develop a large-standing army of 100,000 troops. Although Oman was not wholly successful in achieving its objective during the main negotiation period up to 1995, it did manage to contribute to small shifts in GCC security policy during periods of conflict. Nevertheless, it took the Arab Uprisings in 2011 to achieve a fundamental re-orientation of GCC security policy which favoured higher numbers of PSF troops. This paper analyses the factors which facilitated and constrained Omani policy during the 20-year period and argues that Oman is only able to further its security interests when they are framed in a way that are conducive to the overriding political interests of the GCC.