The Gulf countries face various economic challenges, the most important of which is the lack of economic diversification in general – and in government revenues in particular – in addition to an unsustainable path of government expenditure.
Strategic Studies
This study aims to respond to the following questions: 1 – Is Iraq a threat to the Arab states of the Gulf? 2 – Is Iraq a challenge or an opportunity for the regional security of the Gulf? 3 – What are the responsibilities of the Gulf toward Iraq?
Several scholars have argued that abundant natural resources can be harmful to economic performance under bad institutions and helpful when institutions are good. These arguments have either been theoretical or based on naturally occurring variation in natural resource wealth.
Clientelism is a widespread phenomenon, often resulting from preexisting socioeconomic conditions such as inequalities, government dominance over the economy, and deficiencies in political institutions. State formation ushered vote buying into clientelistic behaviour and reinforced brokerage systems.
The “Arab Spring” epitomized the use of social media networks. Internet-based spheres have demonstrably facilitated civil movements throughout the Arab World. One of the effects has been youth empowerment in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
The GCC has achieved various successes since its inception in 1981, and in principle it has developed from a security and military union to economic integration, embodied in a customs union, a single market, and a tangible plan for launching monetary union.
Five years after its inception, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) single market is malfunctioning in a litany of ways: there remain restrictions on the movement of goods, capital and labor across political boundaries. This paper describes the GCC single market’s malfunctions.
GCC economic integration in general—and the single market in particular—have advanced significantly, but the current phase requires adjustments due to the appearance of various bottlenecks, principally caused by a lack of sophistication in the executive structure of the GCC.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is in the process of two massive steps towards economic integration: the establishment of a single market and the launching of a monetary union. By historical standards, the GCC is late to the game. This presents the GCC with an incredible opportunity to benefit from decades of scholarship.