Social And Economic Development In The Contemporary Arab Gulf States

The crucial importance of the Gulf region today – which may be defined as comprising the states of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with Iran as a non-Arab onlooker – has stimulated surprisingly little interest in academic circles. Much of what has been written, moreover, focuses exclusively on those aspects of direct concern to external interests. The focus of this book is on the Gulf region as an area with its own problems of social, economic and political development. It examines the dimensions of the attempts by the governments and peoples of the area to create new social, economic and political structures – stemming mainly, of course, from their new-found oil wealth. First published in 1980.

The Arab Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE) have over the past decades moved from near obscurity to prominence among actors in the global economy. This "rise of the Gulf" was facilitated by plentiful income from oil and gas, and by the gradual process by which the economic centre of the world is shifting eastward. But first and foremost it has been a result of conscious policies conceived and implemented by the Gulf states to catch up with the developed world and not least to place their countries on a developmental trajectory which will secure the populations a sustainable livelihood in the future. This book recognizes the significant developmental results achieved in the Gulf states over the past half of a century, but also focuses on the detrimental and disrupting effects created by the economic "anomaly" of sudden and massive influx of oil revenues, such as: the growth of rentier mentality, the crowding out of productive activities, and the resulting lack of economic diversification. The oil-based development model worked well when the populations were small and the income from oil was plentiful. With rapidly increasing populations and rising popular demands on the governments, this model can no longer adequately support these societies. The book investigates various elements of how the governments in the Gulf region tackle the difficult and often painful transition toward an ordinary type of economy, where wealth in society is created by the skills and hard work of its population. Issues such as economic diversification, societal planning, institutional change, social reforms, educational achievements, demographic growth, job creation, and the significant reliance on migrant labour are investigated.

This book, first published in 1986, examines the literature on administration, human resources and development in the Arab world. It emphasizes contemporary societies and their internal dynamics, the least known and most critical aspects of Arabic studies.

Unlike the transformations of countries in other parts of the world, the rapid economic development of Arabia and the Gulf states and their rise to key international importance are changes that have been paralleled by remarkable continuity in political institutions, social organization, and religious beliefs. This study traces all the rapid political, economic, social, and cultural changes in these nations and their impact on world affairs, and reviews current trends and likely future developments.

Since the beginning of the 21st century the Gulf region has been faced political and security-related changes and socio-economic transformations that have placed enormous pressure on the Gulf countries, threatened their internal stability and, ultimately, left them with two options: either continue to follow previous methods and policies, or radically change methods, policies and institutions in order to preserve these countries’ existence and further progress and development. The Gulf countries have attempted to respond to these changes and challenges by perpetuating their old values, policies and institutions by amending and improving them as part of a gradualist approach. However, this approach has not bridged the wide gap between the realities of modern Gulf societies and their aspirations to establish development policies and popular and democratic participation, reform their development models and economic structures; improve educational systems, strengthen social building, enhance cultural movement, and empower women in public life. This book – which comprises the papers presented in the sessions of the 13th ECSSR Annual Conference convened between March 31 and April 2, 2008 – discusses the issue of continuity and change in the Gulf region, which is considered both one of the most vital and most problematic current challenges in the region. The book addresses the points of difference and aspects of contradiction that have emerged in a wide sphere among the Gulf countries between conservative and reformist trends in the political, economic, social, cultural, and educational domains.