This analysis offers fresh insight into security issues and social policy in the Gulf states. It covers the redefining of government responsibilities, the initiation of political and social change, the evolution of media roles, and the expansion of opportunities for women. The book also presents important new assessments of the security situations in Iraq and Iran, and early developments in security co-operation and economic integration in the region.
Throughout history, the Arabian Gulf has always commanded a strategic and positive significance, whether as a hub of world trade or as a major supplier of the world's energy. However, since 2001, the entire Middle East, including the Gulf region, has come under negative scrutiny as a potential battleground in the unrelenting war against terrorism. After 2003, the region has been exposed to new vulnerabilities stemming from the divisive and deadly war in Iraq. Against this disturbing backdrop, the Gulf region must deal with diverse challenges: the deteriorating regional security environment, the sweeping effects of globalization, the diversification of oil-dependent economies, the transition to knowledge-based economies, burgeoning population levels, rising demand for job-creation, externally induced reform pressures, and widening political participation. Influential policy makers, regional leaders, respected scholars, and experienced analysts who gathered at the Ninth Annual Conference of The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, held from January 11-13, 2004 in Abu Dhabi, focused on the subject of The Gulf: Challenges of the Future. In identifying major hurdles to political, economic, and social development, they also pinpointed effective ways to surmount these difficulties through new and existing frameworks. Collectively, these conference presentations offer insight on shifting security parameters, redefining of government responsibilities, initiating political and social change, evolving media roles and responsibilities, and expanding opportunities for women in the Gulf. Particular sections assess the security situations in Iraq and Iran, as well as their wider implications, while sketching the prospects for greater security cooperation and economic integration in the Gulf region.
This book studies values and attitudes in the Gulf region. In light of global power shifts, the threatening collapse of internal security in the West, and uncertainty about the current leadership vacuum in world society, this book explores a future leading role of the Gulf countries in such institutions as the G-20 and the OECD. Based on rigorous analysis of macro-level data and opinion surveys with relevance for the Gulf region, it analyzes the global macro-factors shaping the Gulf's future at a time of the global COVID-19 crisis and depression and rising global tensions. Starting with an empirical time series analysis of the long cycles of global politics and economics, it highlights the implications for the Gulf region. Offering a multivariate analysis of civil society values in the Gulf, the author analyzes value changes and attitudes on antisemitism, political Islam, internal security, democracy, and other issues of Arab politics. The partially optimistic conclusions of the study testify to the underestimated and incipient maturity of the Gulf’s civil society and strongly suggest that the Gulf's future is rather with the free societies of the West and not with a Neo-Ottoman Empire in whatever form. "Exceptional in scope and right up-to-the-minute in coverage" Brian M Pollins, Associate, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University. "An outstanding and topical book by an astute scholar of the MENA region" Professor Hussein Solomon, Academic Head of Department, Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State, South Africa. "The most comprehensive and insightful study on the subject to date" Manfred B. Steger, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa and Global Professorial Fellow, Western Sydney University.
Sustainability is a topic of great interest today, particularly for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which have witnessed very rapid economic and demographic growth over the past decade. The observed growth has led to unsustainable consumption patterns of vital resources such as water, energy, and food, highlighting the need for an urgent shift towards green growth and sustainable development strategies. Sustainability in the Gulf covers the region’s contemporary development challenges through the lens of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which place sustainability at the centre of the solution to the current environmental, economic, and social imbalances facing GCC countries. The book presents multiple analyses of Gulf-specific sustainability topics, examining the current status, challenges, and opportunities, as well as identifying key lessons learned. Innovative and practical policy recommendations are provided, as well as new conceptual angles to the evolving academic debates on the post-oil era in the Gulf. Through chapters covering sector-related studies, as well as the socio-economic dimensions of the sustainability paradigm, this volume offers valuable insights into current research efforts made by the GCC states, proposing a way forward based on lessons learned. This is a valuable resource for students, academics, and researchers in the areas of Environmental Studies, Political Economy, and Economics of the GCC states.
The Arab Gulf states all face increasing challenges in terms of sustainable consumption and production. These include: - Environmental sustainability issues such as waste, recycling, water usage, energy, including the use of renewables, and pollution - Economic sustainability issues including employment opportunities for local people, education and training and engagement of business and individuals that make up the supply chains - Social sustainability issues such as safety at work, working hours, equality and diversity, noise, dust and pollution, traffic congestion, stakeholder engagement and community involvement in decision-making While much of the previous research on this subject has been Western-centric, the present book includes contributions on these topics from specialists from the UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Qatar as well as from the US and the UK.
The oil market is undergoing fundamental change. New technologies are increasing the supply of oil from old and new sources, while rising concerns over the environment are seeing the world gradually moving away from oil. This spells a significant challenge for oil-exporting countries, including those of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) who account for a fifth of the world’s oil production. The GCC countries have recognized the need to reduce their reliance on oil and are all implementing reforms to diversify their economies as well as fiscal and external revenues. Nevertheless, as global oil demand is expected to peak in the next two decades, the associated fiscal imperative could be both larger and more urgent than implied by the GCC countries’ existing plans.
This edited volume explores the educational reforms and challenges in higher education in the Gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring a truly global spread of contributors and perspectives from countries such as Bahrain, India, Georgia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, the book navigates experience-based and practice-linked research spectrum of the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education. It targets key challenges such as the move to online and distance learning, the impact of job-related stress, and the preparedness of institutional risk management. Using qualitative research, autoethnographic accounts, and case study findings, the book makes recommendations for reform implementation within higher education as well as discusses the wider socio-cultural and political landscape left by the pandemic in the Gulf region. Highlighting current trends and challenges based on empirical works of the authors, the book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and academics in the field of higher education, international and comparative education, and leadership strategy more specifically. Those involved with educational technology, education policy, and middle eastern studies will also find the book of value.
This book discusses the threats and challenges facing the Persian Gulf and the future security in the region, providing an overview of the major regional and extra-regional actors in Gulf security. It argues that except for Iran, no regional or extra-regional actors, including the United States, China, India and Russia, have developed a strategy for Persian Gulf security, and only Turkey has expressed a willingness to provide security for the region. Importantly, the major threats to Persian Gulf security are nonconventional, rather than external, threats to Iranian hegemony or the balance of power. In conclusion, it predicts that the power struggle in the Persian Gulf in the coming decades will be between Iran and Turkey, and not between Iran and Saudi Arabia. This book is of interest to diplomats, journalists, international affairs specialists, strategists and scholars of Gulf politics and security and defence studies.
