The US elections present the GCC countries with potential challenges regardless of the outcome. On balance, the Gulf states would prefer a Donald Trump victory because it is easier to deal with an incumbent leader, who, despite being transactional and capricious, is still committed to the view that Saudi Arabia and the other GCC states are strategic allies and that the US has vital interests in the region that need protecting.
A growing number of countries globally are considering and sometimes experimenting with Universal Basic Income (UBI), as an instrument for wealth distribution and social equity. GCC states could be the ideal testing ground for new distributional policies such as UBI which could reduce the fiscal burden of an over-extended public sector workforce while maintaining the social contract.
GCC expert and LSE Associate Professor Steffen Hertog shares his views on the root-cause behind the challenge of economic diversification in the Gulf. The post has been reproduced with the kind permission of the author and the original can be found on Dr. Hertog’s LSE blog.
Dr. Eckart Woertz from the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies expands on the different responses to COVID-19 and the potetial economic and (geo)political consequences of the pandemic.
Dr. Martin Keulertz expands on the trade and security implications of the BRI for GCC countries, including the militarization of maritime routes and great power competition.