The Transformation of the Gulf: Politics, Economics and the Global Order

This book examines the political, economic and social transformation of the six member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the ways in which these states are both shaping, and being reshaped by, the processes of globalisation. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the volume combines thematic chapters focusing on issues such as globalisation, nationalism and identity, political thinking, and economic diversification and redistributive policymaking with empirical chapters studying specific aspects of reform and change: the emergence of governing markets the rise of Sovereign Wealth Funds Islamic Finance the relationship between energy and sustainability trends in foreign aid donorship, strategic and foreign policy formulation. Contributions from experts in the field provide cutting-edge snapshots of a region in flux and collectively offer a roadmap of its repositioning in the global order, examining the interaction between global processes and internal dynamics of change and resistance that inject new dimensions into debates over the loci of local and global transformations and the manner in which each plays off the other. Situating the Gulf States firmly within their global twenty-first century context, this book will hold particular appeal to theorists of globalisation as well as to scholars of comparative politics, international political economy and area studies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Transformation of the Gulf Part 1: The Domestic Context: Changing Dimensions of Political and Social Structures 1. The Difficult Development of Parliamentary Politics in the Gulf: Parliaments and the Process of Managed Reform in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman 2. Nationalism in the Gulf States 3. Migration Politics in the Arabian Peninsula 4. Gender and Participation in the Arab Gulf 5. The Arab Gulf Moment Part 2: Economic Reforms and Evolution of Governing Structures 6. Governing Markets in the Gulf States 7. The Development of Islamic Finance in the Gulf Cooperation Council States 8. The Distribution of Oil Wealth: Global Experiences, and Lessons for Kuwait 9. Volatility, Diversification and Development in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries 10. Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Gulf – An Assessment 11. Energy and Sustainability Policies in the Gulf States Part 3: Internationalisation of the Gulf: Security and Foreign Policy 12. Security and Strategic Trends in the Middle East 13. The Challenge of Transition: Gulf Security in the Twenty-First Century 14. Foreign Policies with International Reach: The Case of Qatar 15. Trends in Gulf State Assistance to Crisis-Affected Contexts 16. Gulf-Pacific Asia Linkages in the Twenty-First Century: A Marriage of Convenience?

About the Author :
David Held is the Graham Wallas Chair in Political Science at the London School of Economics, UK. His main research interests include the study of globalisation, changing forms of democracy and the prospects of regional and global governance. Kristian Ulrichsen is the Deputy Director of the Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation, and a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, UK.