Persian Gulf States Research Articles

THE ECONOMY OF ARAB COUNTRIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE «ARAB SPRING»

This article aims to study, analyze and assess the nature of economic growth in the Arab countries in the period 1990-2023, in order to determine the aspects of economic and social sustainability. Considering that the early 1990s were characterized by the participation of the Arab countries in the decisions of the Washington Consensus of 1989, based on the development of public policy based on the market economy and the developing role of the private sector in the national economy, as well as in stimulating economic growth, such analysis is of particular interest. The main objective of this article is to analyze and assess the quantity, quality and stability of economic growth, as well as trends in the dynamics of labor productivity, production and industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including the Persian Gulf states. The novelty of the study lies in the wide coverage of the analysis of economic indicators compared to other countries. The study is also aimed at analyzing the impact of internal and external factors on labor productivity. The objectives of the study include analyzing the dynamics of productivity, identifying the key factors influencing the decline and increase in growth rates. The practical significance of the work lies in the possibility of using the research results for further research of strategies for improving the efficiency of the economic sector in the Arab countries. Taking into account the differences in the economic sector in the MENA countries, the study relied on an analytical approach supported by descriptive and comparative methods. The main attention is paid to economic and statistical data on the Arab countries and their comparative analysis for the period 1990-2023. The research methodology is based on the collection and analysis of statistical data on GDP, labor productivity and economic indicators in the Arab countries. In addition to using comparative analysis methods, as well as statistical tools for assessing productivity changes in recent years, the main objective of the study was both to identify the factors that influence the decline in productivity growth and to find ways to improve the efficiency of the industrial sector. The comparative method used in the article made it possible to give an objective assessment of the current state of the Arab economy in the global context. The main results show that the rate of productivity growth in the Arab countries is significantly lower than in other regions of the world, especially after the Arab Spring. The analysis revealed key factors influencing both internal economic difficulties and external influences.

The Dual Containment metaphor: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and linking the Cold War to the War on Terror

ABSTRACT This essay analyzes the Dual Containment metaphor of the Clinton administration, which reconciled President Clinton’s internationalist post-Cold War rhetoric with aggressive treatment of Iraq and Iran. I argue that the Clinton administration deployed the Dual Containment metaphor to redefine these two Persian Gulf states in line with Cold War topoi of enemyship and threat, symbolically and militarily confining them so that they could not endanger the project of democratic enlargement after the fall of the Soviet Union. While the Dual Containment label eventually fell out of circulation, its core elements saturated Clinton’s presidential rhetoric throughout his time in the White House and laid the rhetorical groundwork for George W. Bush’s foreign policy, culminating with his freedom agenda and military misadventures in the Gulf. In making this case, this essay shows how metaphors offer a useful device through which to assess the constitutive force of presidential rhetoric across diachronic, institutional, and articulatory contexts.

Energy Strategy of Russia and the Persian Gulf States

Energy Strategy of Russia and the Persian Gulf States

Innovation as erasure: Palestine and the new regional alliances of technology

AbstractThis article explores the growing connections between the Persian Gulf states and the heavily militarised Israeli innovation ecosystem. The Gulf actors now play an increasing role in support of Israel as a globally expanding ‘Start‐up Nation’, and are involved in transforming Palestinian land into a regional frontier of technology in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli‐Gulf cooperation and its impact on Palestinians, however, has not been thoroughly researched. Drawing from fieldwork among Palestinian and Israeli innovation elites, we map these growing connections between Gulf state actors and Israel and analyse how the occupied Palestinian territories are further enmeshed in complex networks of financial capitalist and settler colonial security interests. Theoretically, the paper advances the critique of the contemporary settler colonial frontier, venturing beyond its usual Eurocentric and binary geographies. We conclude that ‘innovation’ is both (a) the terrain of expanding structures of Israeli colonisation and (b) the site of productive ambivalences and novel forms of resistance in an evolving regional and global reality.

Regional institutions’ contribution to energy market integration in the middle East

The energy market integration in the Middle East is assessed by comparing the acting institutions in the Levant and Persian Gulf sub-regions. Pami Aalto's regional institution's theoretical framework and the case-oriented comparative research method are adopted for this purpose. Changes in the Levant region coincided with the Arab League's establishment. This league did not develop due to inappropriate bi-lateral energy relationships and a lack of effort among the inter-state trade institutions. Regional institutions, lacking order creation, next to the Arab League members' sovereignty disturb gas transmission, transit, and environmental protection regulations. The Arab League has recognized Israel as an energy-producing member and has reduced the political conflicts' intensity to improve Arabic leadership in the Levant integration. The Persian Gulf states' unilateral trade negotiations, sanctions imposed by the US and EU on Iran's energy sector, and political disputes between Iran and some Arab states prevent coherent regional integration, liberalization, and the launch of joint energy projects. In bi-lateral energy diplomacy competition between the regional great energy powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia outside the region is evident. Though the environmental stewardship institution supports green energy, the profit-interest has priority in these regions. The outcome of this article reveals the existence of constraints imposed on energy market integration in these sub-regions.

Colonial Oil and State-Making: The Separate Independence of Qatar and Bahrain

The "resource curse" has received considerable scholarly attention over the past few decades. Departing from the original argument that oil hinders democracy, comparative political scientists have presented varying claims regarding the impact of oil on political regimes. Some have denied the thesis altogether, maintaining that the correlation is a result of omitted variable bias, while others have offered a more nuanced view that the presence or absence of the curse depends on a third factor.

The Russia-Ukraine War and the Impact on the Persian Gulf States

The Russia-Ukraine War and the Impact on the Persian Gulf States

The impact of COVID-19 on the Persian Gulf: the realist perspective

This article aims to show the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on international relations and state policy in the Persian Gulf through the prism of realism theory. COVID-19 became a game changer for the domestic politics of the Persian Gulf countries and for the balance of power in that subregion. The application of realism reveals the statecraft of the Arab Persian Gulf during the pandemic to be a struggle for power and its consolidation. Therefore the hypothesis of the article holds that the authoritarian Arab Gulf states used the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis to consolidate and strengthen regime power and conduct humanitarian/mask/COVID-19 diplomacy toward the regimes most affected by the pandemic, shifting the geopolitical landscape. The first part of the article presents the general assumption of the analysis and the theoretical framework. The second and the third respectively discuss domestic and foreign policies of the Arab Persian Gulf states in the face of the pandemic, highlighting strengthening authoritarian tendencies and authoritarian bilateral cooperation. The fourth part relate to the Gulf Cooperation Council and its reaction on COVID-19. The last part draws on the theoretical framework adopted in the article offer conclusions that answer research questions.

Oil Money: Middle East Petrodollars and the Transformation of U.S. Empire, 1967–1988

In the 1970s, high oil prices brought a surge of revenues to a handful of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. U.S. leaders worried about the “petrodollar problem”: Could the global financial system handle the strain? And as oil producers became stronger, would the United States lose its influence in the Middle East and its privileged position in the world economy? David M. Wight argues that the petrodollar boom only reinforced American power. The United States enjoyed close ties with the main oil exporters, especially Iran and Saudi Arabia. Together, they created what Wight, following Paul A. Kramer, calls an American-led “international empire” in the Middle East (p. 4). The wealthy Persian Gulf states spent billions of dollars on American goods, especially weapons, and invested billions more in U.S. financial markets. Other regimes such as Ba'athist Iraq, less friendly to Washington, still did business with the United States. The appeal of U.S. technology and financial markets often proved stronger than disputes over Israel and imperialism. As a result, Wight concludes that “the United States was the biggest winner to come out of the petrodollar economy” (p. 277). The petrodollar boom also served American political goals. It strengthened U.S. partners at the expense of oil-poor Soviet clients, while Saudi financial aid helped recruit other Arab states such as Egypt into the American sphere of influence.

An optimized economic-environmental model for a proposed flare gas recovery system

Iran is the second largest oil and gas producer among the Persian Gulf states, with 13.26 billion m3 gas flaring in 2020, approximately 9.34% of the global gas flaring. To reduce pollutants emissions and energy loss, an accurate feasibility study of flare gas recovery technologies is needed as the first step. Multi-objective optimization of process structure for the development of a comprehensive flare gas recovery system based on process simulation has not attracted much attention in the literature. In this study, a process structure for a flare gas recovery system was proposed using a multi-objective optimization approach to decrease associated gas flaring in southern Iran with a current flaring capacity of 279.7 MMSCFD. In the proposed structure, associated gas goes through sweetening and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) units. After separating the liquid and vapor products, the NGL outlet gas is allocated to different units, including reinjection of gas to oil wells, gas pipelines, Liquefied Natural Gas, Compressed Natural Gas, Gas to Liquid, Gas to Power, and Desalination units. These units were simulated in Aspen HYSYS, providing an accurate economic and environmental analysis. Afterward, the shares of NGL outlet gas allocated to downstream units were considered optimization variables. The process structure was optimized by maximizing the economic (net present value) and environmental (greenhouse gas emission) objective functions. Results show that in the optimized process structure, 93.4% of the NGL outlet gas is allocated to gas injection and 6.6% to the power generation unit, resulting in a reduction of 6.22 million tons of CO2 emissions per year in this oilfield. The net present value of the flare gas recovery system is approximately 1.504 billion dollars, with a payback period of 1.60 years, suggesting the feasibility of the process.

The impact of COVID-19 on the Persian Gulf: the realist perspective

This article aims to show the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on international relations and state policy in the Persian Gulf through the prism of realism theory. COVID-19 became a game changer for the domestic politics of the Persian Gulf countries and for the balance of power in that subregion. The application of realism reveals the statecraft of the Arab Persian Gulf during the pandemic to be a struggle for power and its consolidation. Therefore the hypothesis of the article holds that the authoritarian Arab Gulf states used the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis to consolidate and strengthen regime power and conduct humanitarian/mask/COVID-19 diplomacy toward the regimes most affected by the pandemic, shifting the geopolitical landscape. The first part of the article presents the general assumption of the analysis and the theoretical framework. The second and the third respectively discuss domestic and foreign policies of the Arab Persian Gulf states in the face of the pandemic, highlighting strengthening authoritarian tendencies and authoritarian bilateral cooperation. The fourth part relate to the Gulf Cooperation Council and its reaction on COVID-19. The last part draws on the theoretical framework adopted in the article offer conclusions that answer research questions.

Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East: losses and gains

The article analyzes the US foreign policy in the Middle East in the context of the growing confrontation between the collective West and Russia against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis. Particular attention is paid to the results of the visit of US President Joe Biden to Israel, to the West Bank of the Jordan River to the State of Palestine and to Saudi Arabia, which he made in mid-July 2022. The author comes to the conclusion that another attempt by Washington to draw the countries of the region into its behind-the-scenes foreign policy games has failed. The Middle Eastern allies and partners of the United States represented by Israel, the monarchies of the Persian Gulf and other Arab states took a neutral position in relation to the confl ict in Ukraine, and the oil and gas exporting countries did not go for a sharp increase in hydrocarbon supplies to the EU countries and the UK, as he insistently asked Biden. The White House failed to put together a regional anti-Iranian bloc on the basis of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf (GCC), as the leaders of Qatar, Oman and Iraq are determined to maintain their traditional ties and contacts with Tehran. Moreover, these countries are making mediation eff orts to normalize relations between the Saudi Arabia and Iran, and there are prerequisites for success in this matter. In general, the Arabs do not support the US administration's concept of hegemony in the world and building a unipolar world order in the Middle East. Even with some remaining dependence on the United States and the West as a whole in the fi nancial, economic, military-technical and other fi elds, the Arab countries prefer to pursue an independent policy on key issues of our time, develop a multipolar world, and maintain mutually benefi cial and respectful relations with all states, including China and Russia. The Arab capitals are in no hurry to speed up the rapprochement with the State of Israel, which is imposed by Washington, expecting from its leadership to intensify eff orts to justly resolve the Palestinian problem and liberate the illegally occupied Arab lands. Even the bogey exaggerated by the White House of a common threat to the Middle East from the hypothetical appearance of Iran's nuclear weapons and its expansion in the region cannot persuade the Persian Gulf monarchies and other Arab countries to cooperate with Jerusalem in the military or military-technical fields.

System kafala w państwach Zatoki Perskiej – ochrona pracowników czy niewolnictwo w XXI wieku? Zarys problematyki

The human rights protection system in the Middle East, especially in the Persian Gulf states, is often discussed in the literature in the context of women’s rights or the use of torture and the death penalty. An important topic related to human rights in the modern world is the kafala system, which has been operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, i.e., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Jordan for years. The states have perceived it as a system of foreign worker protection. According to the latest data, it is estimated that 25 million migrants live and work in the GCC countries, 70% of the Gulf Cooperation Council workforce consists of migrant workers, and 49% of the total GCC population are migrants. The kafala system determines the dependence between a foreign employee and an Arab employer, which is often associated with the emergence of various types of violations of employee rights and threats to their lives and health.

The Influence of russian Aggression against Ukraine on the Security Situation of the Persian Gulf Countries

The Middle Eastern countries did not join the Western-led condemnation of russia’s aggression against Ukraine and refused to join efforts to isolate the russian federation economically. The article examines the impact of the russian-Ukrainian war on the Persian Gulf states. The stance of the Arab states regarding the ongoing conflict and the level of cooperation with its parties are highlighted. The reasons for hedging the policy of the Persian Gulf states to closer cooperation with russia and the People’s Republic of China with the simultaneous weakening of the US position are given. The authors argue that the war of russia against Ukraine may serve as a bifurcation point for the American Middle East policy. It would manifest in a tipping point when the US government shall decide that weapons cannot be sold to the Arab autocracies in cases where it would demean American values, such as the support for human rights. The consequences of the war between russia and Ukraine for the Arab monarchies and food security in the Middle East region, as well as the rise in oil prices in the world, are analysed. The Arab countries are concerned that the war has jeopardised the uninterrupted supply of agricultural products to international markets, provoking a significant jump in product prices, which in the long run may lead to unforeseen consequences. The analysis of stances of the Persian Gulf states on russian aggression is stipulated by the complexity of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the level of reception of russian propaganda and the value orientation of countries in the region. Keywords: Ukraine, the Persian Gulf, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, russia’s aggression against Ukraine, humanitarian aid, US policy in the Middle East.

ЕВОЛЮЦІЯ ВІДНОСИН РЕСПУБЛІКИ СІНГАПУР ІЗ КРАЇНАМИ-ЧЛЕНАМИ РАДИ СПІВРОБІТНИЦТВААРАБСЬКИХ ДЕРЖАВ ПЕРСЬКОЇ ЗАТОКИ

The author made an attempt to comprehensively analyze the relations between the Republic of Singapore and the GCC countries. The article describes the reasons for the countries' mutual interest in deepening cooperation and the main spheres of interaction between them. Specific measures and projects undertaken by the Singapore government to intensify cooperation with the Persian Gulf states also are examined. Particular attention is paid to the collaboration of the countries in a multilateral format within the AMED.

Политика Королевства Бахрейн в сфере цифровизации образования

The priorities of the digital policy of the Persian Gulf states at the present stage are seriously differ-ent. While the large Arabian monarchies (such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are betting on the develop-ment of large-scale military-political and economic programs, which in the future will consolidate their regional leadership, the small states of the GCC are striving to achieve success in a certain niche associ-ated with digital development. In the case of Bahrain, this niche has become e-education. This article examines in turn the key stages in the development of the digital education system in the Kingdom - from individual initiatives (“King Hamad's Schools of the Future”) to a comprehensive un-derstanding (the concept of “Education in Bahrain in a new era” as a part of “Vision 2030”) - and its im-pact on the pace of development of human capital and international reputation of Manama. In general, it is obvious that the Kingdom has achieved significant success: an effectively built system, based on a symbiosis of public and private projects, makes national specialists more competitive in the regional labor market, and also keeps Bahrain involved in the global educational agenda. On the other hand, the Kingdom still faces significant problems that impede effective development - among the main ones are the shortage of personnel, the inertia of the legislative sphere, and the lack of domestic software. One way or another, despite the problems, Bahrain continues to systematize efforts in the field of digital education and, with a high degree of probability, will promote this brand at the regional level.

Techno-economic assessment of common reed and sewage sludge co-fermentation improved by vapothermal pre-treatment

This study examines whether vapothermal pre-treatment is technically feasible and brings economic advantages for a subsequent anaerobic co-fermentation of reeds together with sewage sludge. This is illustrated by the example of remote sites located close to constructed wetlands in the Persian Gulf states. Thus, eight different biogas plant configurations with an installed electric power between 75 and 450 kW, each with and without vapothermal pre-treatment, are investigated in detail related to technical and economic figures. Within the technical assessment, suitable plant components are chosen and overall plant layouts are designed and dimensioned. Furthermore, the requirements on the substrate by means of quantity, pre-treatment and storage capacities are investigated. Based on this, an economic evaluation following the annuity method is performed in order to calculate the respective electricity production costs. The results show that the thermal energy required for vapothermal pre-treatment can be obtained completely from the residual heat of the combined heat and power unit used in each case. Additionally, the specific electricity production costs can be reduced by a vapothermal pre-treatment up to 7 % related to the systems without pre-treatment. Furthermore, a comparison shows that vapothermal pre-treatment can compete with other pre-treatment methods such as steam explosion and hydrothermal pre-treatment for plants with higher installed electric capacity. In addition, it is shown that the considered cases can compete with the production of electricity using diesel as a fuel at a fuel equivalent price of 1.00 €Graphic abstract

Golden Boys, Bros, and Barbecues: Gendered Occidentalism and the Shaping of US Policy in the Middle East

AbstractDrawing on ethnographic and archival research among foreign policy elites in Washington, DC, this article turns attention to the affective gendered and racialized work that shapes US foreign policy. In particular, this article focuses on a form of strategic mimicry I call “gendered Occidentalism,” which has been used by representatives of Persian Gulf states to gain entry into the US foreign policy establishment, and through it, the authoritative power to interpret the “Middle East” for their elite American counterparts. To make this argument, I examine both a historical and contemporary case study, showing the trajectory of this gendered Occidentalism and the ways Gulf policy elites have been able to adapt these affective techniques to align with the changing gendered and racialized norms of the DC establishment. Ultimately, this article considers a more dynamic geopolitical landscape in which less powerful states can—through the affective techniques deployed by their representatives—influence how a hegemonic state like the United States perceives and pursues in its interests abroad. [gender, policy, affect, diplomacy, Middle East]

Policy-Making of the Persian Gulf States Based on the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030 Agenda

The closure of the Persian Gulf environment and the passage of tankers and the overuse of this region beyond international standards, have endangered the environmental status of this gulf. The dissemination of maritime culture, water economy and the inclusion of its policies in the laws of the eight countries of the Persian Gulf is essential to achieve sustainable development, given its various dimensions and practices. The main question is how effective the performance of Persian Gulf states can be in sustainably developing the marine environment of the Persian Gulf with emphasis on economic, social and environmental indicators of sustainable development? This article has analyzed the performance of the Persian Gulf countries in relation to the sustainable development of the marine environment, in an analytical manner and as a library research and, thus, laws should be applied in the Persian Gulf region as a general obligation of governments to protect the marine environment, in the form of a system of regional cooperation. Consequently, it can be expressed that achieving sustainable development in the marine environment of the Persian Gulf, can only be made possible via all of the eight countries playing the optimal role in interaction with each other and the strict implementation of international agreements on marine pollution prevention. The application of the 17 SDGs and the indicators mentioned in the domestic laws of the regional countries, may provide opportunities for developed and developing countries to strengthen cooperation and partnership to attain ambitions and goals of sustainable development through protecting and using their resources properly. Ultimately, we will find out that the development of the indicators is influenced by the significant impact of the policies of influential governments. 

Ближневосточные конфликты: вероятность обострения в контексте общей нестабильности в регионе в 2020-е годы

The article analyses Middle Eastern conflicts in the early 2020s. The main focus is on the situation in Syria, Libya, and Yemen, three Middle Eastern conflicts that are progressing, with no solution in sight. These conflicts motivated by social, economic and political reasons became a progression of those protests that have started in 2011 and have been called “The Arab Spring”. These “revolutions” have been promoted by Islamist movements and groups whose activity became one of key factors of perpetual tensions in the region. So far, attempts by conflict parties to find consensual solutions have remained rather unsuccessful. Positive resolution of actual and potential conflicts in the Greater Middle East to a significant extent still depends on external regional and non-regional actors, such as Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. However, each actor involved in these conflicts and in conflict management pursues its own goals. These actors try to retain their positions and influence in these Middle Eastern countries and in the region as a whole. According to the forecast made in the article, more conflicts in the region may be foreseen (in Iraq, the Persian Gulf states etc.) that could form the next wave of the “Arab Spring”.