The growing importance of gas in a region dominated by giant oil reserves and high oil production capacity has been fueled by explosive population growth, urbanization, increased standards of living, and industrialization in the Gulf Arab states.
If experience is any guide, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s management of the Egyptian economy is in for a rough ride.
The fiscal retrenchment unfolding across the Gulf Cooperation Council since the advent of lower oil prices in late 2014 is bound to have effects on the deployment of Gulf capital, particularly via sovereign wealth funds and state-owned investments.
As much as things are changing in the Gulf Cooperation Council, in terms of the relationship between state and economy with the much-heralded post-oil transformation underway, there are many aspects of state-business relations that remain the same.
The Gulf Cooperation Council states have drastically reduced subsidies of fuel, with the exception of Kuwait, which planned to reduce fuel subsidies but met stiff resistance from Parliament.
2015 was a seminal year in the history of Saudi Arabia.
The Gulf economic model has historically envisioned the state as an engine of growth, a source of employment, and as a provider of a range of social and economic benefits, including healthcare, housing, subsidized energy, and free education.
The relative failure of Iranian missile strikes has significantly eroded the value of Tehran’s enormous investment in its missile and drone technology and raised serious questions among Iran’s regional allies about the ability of Tehran to come to their defense.
Learn MoreThrough its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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