Social and Economic Development in the Contemporary Arab Gulf States

The Arab Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE) have over the past decades moved from near obscurity to prominence among actors in the global economy. This rise of the Gulf was facilitated by plentiful income from oil and gas and by the gradual process by which the economic centre of the world is shifting eastward. But first and foremost it has been a result of conscious policies conceived and implemented by the Gulf states to catch up with the developed world and not least to place their countries on a developmental trajectory which will secure the populations a sustainable livelihood in the future. This book recognises the significant developmental results achieved in the Gulf states over the past half of a century but focuses on the detrimental and disrupting effects created by the economic anomaly of sudden and massive influx of oil revenues. Effects such as the growth of rentier mentality, the crowding out of productive activities, the resulting lack of