The Gulf Cooperation Council States

This book delves into the economic development of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Since the 1960s, the GCC states have harnessed their potential to exploit the wealth accrued from the oil boom to build their infrastructure and grow their economies. However, the high level of dependency on oil as the primary source feeding their output made their economies volatile and vulnerable to fluctuations in the global oil prices. Moreover, the plunge in oil prices and the threat of depletion of this natural resource pose serious challenges to the GCC countries. Consequently, the GCC governments have realized the importance of diversifying their economies following the need to move away from reliance on hydrocarbon. This book contributes to the theoretical literature by enriching the debate on the transition of the GCC countries from rentier states to diversified economies. It helps students and scholars understand this transformation with an expansive comprehension of the contemporary challenges facing the region, as well as outlining prospects for the future.

This book examines the challenges facing the development of tourism in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This region, which largely comprises the Arabian Peninsula, possesses some of the fastest growing economies in the world and is remarkably unique. It shares similar associations and affinities: tribal histories, royal kinship, political associations, Bedu cultural roots, Islamic heritage, rapid urbanization, oil wealth, rentier dynamics, state capitalist structures, migrant labour, economic diversification policies and institutional restructuring. Therefore, this volume takes the study of tourism away from its normative unit of analysis, where tourism in the region is being examined within the context of the Middle East and the wider Islamic and Arab world, towards an enquiry focusing on a specific geo-political territory and socially defined region. Although international tourism development in the region embodies a range of challenges, complexities and conflicts, which are deeply contextualized in this volume, the approach overall does not endorse the normative ‘Gulf bashing’ position that has predominated within the critical enquiries in the region. It presents a forward-looking and realistic assessment of international tourism development, examining development potentialities and constructive ways forward for GCC states and the region as a whole. This edited volume provides a real attempt to examine critically ways in which tourism and its development intersect with the socio-cultural, economic, political, environmental and industrial change that is taking place in the region. By doing so, the book provides a theoretically engaged analysis of the social transformations and discourses that shape our contemporary understanding of tourism development within the GCC region. Moreover, it deciphers tourism development’s role within the context of the GCC states undergoing rapid transformation, urbanization, ultra-modernization, internationalization and globalization. In addition to state-specific illustrations and destination case studies, the work provides insights into relatable themes associated with international tourism development in the region, such as tourism’s relationship with religion, heritage and identity, the environment and sustainability, mobility and cross-border movements, the transport industry, image production and destination branding, mega-development and political stability and instability. The book combines theory with diverse case study illustrations, drawing on disciplinary knowledge from such fields as sociology, political economy and social geography. This timely and original contribution is essential reading for students, researchers and academics in the field of tourism studies and related subject areas, along with those who have regional interests in Middle East studies, including Gulf and Arabian Peninsula studies.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Possessing a significant share of the world's oil and gas reserves and including some of the world's fastest growing economies, the GCC is a significant regional grouping. As with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Council has made significant progress towards economic integration. Seeking to draw out lessons applicable to ASEAN, this report looks at the structure and evolution of the GCC. This includes the context within which the Council was established, its rationale, and economic importance. It then follows the organization's development over time, paying particular importance to its progress from Customs Union and Common Market towards Monetary Union. The report then sets out the key challenges ahead for the Council, and concludes by highlighting the structural, organizational, and political lessons that resonate with ASEAN and its membership.

The Gulf Cooperation Council represents both a model of development and unity in the Arab world and a working example of interstate cooperation to other nations. In this volume, contributors describe the rationale for Gulf unity and cooperation and analyze the financial, economic, and legal institutions of the GCC member states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar). They focus on the GCC's role in maintaining stability in the Arabian peninsula, an area that is clearly vital to U.S. interests. Contributors pinpoint the essential elements of GCC unity, including its efforts to obtain optimum economic self-sufficiency, to maximize market share and revenue from oil production, and to establish an integrated legal framework. The GCC's unique security needs, given the member states' vast combined area and thinly spread populations, are also discussed. An overview of the strategic interests and policies of both superpowers toward the region reveals a history of decline in their influence and prestige that is a result, it is argued, of misperceptions and misguided policies. Finally, documentation and bibliographic sections enhance the book's usefulness as a handbook on the GCC and the Arabian Gulf states.

If there has been a gap in the knowledge of the GCC, this book now fills it. This volume presents the essential information schematically, with sound comment by the author, and includes a rich collection of documents.

All of the GCC countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—are undergoing historic socio-economic transitions. They are facing enormous strains on public finances and challenging economic outlooks, due to fluctuating oil prices, demographic pressures, high unemployment rates, and a lack of economic diversification. These countries also are likely to feel the rising impact of climate change, and global policies to deal with it, over the coming decades. In addition, seemingly unstoppable shifts in the long-standing international order, notably the rise of China and uncertainties about U.S. leadership, have potentially serious implications for the Middle East and beyond. This by noted scholars and experts considers the key trends shaping Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries--Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirate-- ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, to climate change, economic disruptions, demographics and other domestic concerns, and shifts in the global order. The book’s chapters address such questions as: How will global megatrends impact the GCC? How can GCC states adjust and diversify their economies to meet the dual challenges of fluctuating oil prices and climate change? How can these states adjust their labor markets to absorb and support women and youth? How will inter GCC disagreements impact the region moving forward? And how will GCC relations with international actors shift in the coming years? This timely book, with its comprehensive analyses and policy recommendations, will be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in the GCC region, including policymakers, academics, and researchers at think tanks and nongovernmental organizations.

Exhaustive analysis of the political economies of the GCC States since the oil boom of the 1970s to the present.

Al-Alkim examines the actors shaping the foreign-policy dynamics of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and argues that, since the 1991-92 Gulf war, the GCC has become heavily dependent on foreign powers for its survival.