1st Edition

Shifting Geo-Economic Power of the Gulf Oil, Finance and Institutions

By Bessma Momani, Matteo Legrenzi Copyright 2011
    266 Pages
    by Routledge

    266 Pages
    by Routledge

    Bringing together for the first time distinguished Gulf experts to analyse the renewed geo-economic prominence of the Gulf states, this volume investigates some of the 'new power brokers' in the world economy: the oil-exporting states of the Gulf. The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) members: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, collectively have the largest proven oil reserves in the world and are among the world's largest oil-exporting states. Gulf Arab states are actively pursuing a variety of foreign investment strategies. Some of these investments are being managed by sovereign wealth funds, government investment corporations, and government-controlled companies. This renewed geo-economic status has received a lot of media attention but there has been a dearth of academic study on what this shift in global economic power means for the international economic system. This volume aims to fill this gap with a rigorous scholarly analysis based on primary sources and raw economic data. It brings together the expertise of academics who have devoted their career to careful study of the region and of renowned scholars of international political economy.

    Biography

    Matteo Legrenzi is Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada and Bessma Momani is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada

    'Bessma Momani and Matteo Legrenzi have put together an extremely valuable collection of new work by predominantly younger scholars on a subject - the Gulf Arab export economies - that is curiously under researched. Essential reading for both the academy and the policy community, this edited work has the freshness and originality to define the literature for a generation.' Philip Robins, St Antony's College, University of Oxford, UK 'This volume represents a milestone in published research on the political economy of the oil-exporting states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It brings together a closely edited and coherent set of original studies on the changing nature of these economies, on evolving policies and economic strategies, and on their developing presence in the regional and global economy. The economic future of these states and their growing regional and international roles are subjects of crucial importance, and this book makes a major contribution to filling the gap in understanding that continues to hamper analysis and policy-making by outsiders. That these rigorous but accessibly written analyses are strongly anchored in the respective disciplines of the authors makes them more, not less, relevant for those concerned with policy - while simultaneously providing an unrivalled new source for students and scholars of the political economy and shifting global roles of the Gulf states.' Gerd Nonneman, University of Exeter, UK This book is a must read for academics, economists, and policymakers with interest in the AGS [Arab Gulf States]. It builds on and supplements other works on these economic and financial topics...’ Digest of Middle East Studies