Refugee Crisis and Economic Migration: Regional Economic Interdependence and the Arab Gulf States
The institutional design of the Arab Gulf states sought to build economic capacity, social services, and basic infrastructure for small citizen populations.
The institutional design of the Arab Gulf states sought to build economic capacity, social services, and basic infrastructure for small citizen populations. The reality, however, is that the states are regional drivers of economic growth and regional economic stability. Their outward placement of foreign investment, cash, and in-kind (often oil and gas) donations to unstable governments, and their support of regional economies via remittances, offer a wide net of support to states and citizens across the wider Middle East and North Africa region.
In effect, the Arab Gulf states are at the center of debate on two related policy dilemmas. The first is creating coherent immigration and human rights policy toward refugees and economic migrants. The second is in crafting foreign policy responses, often in collaboration with allies, to intervene financially or militarily in neighboring conflicts and political transitions. It is the conflict, and the failed governance that precedes it, that creates the demand for refuge, both political and economic.
The latest regional conflict reinforced how difficult it is to severely disrupt economic momentum in the Gulf Cooperation Council while highlighting genuine threats to economic security and public safety in the region.
AGSI explains what Israel’s sudden and massive attack on Iran is likely to mean for Gulf Arab states, Iran, the United States, and global and regional economies.
The fall of the Assad regime has not only reopened Syria to regional reintegration but also exposed the fragmented ambitions of Gulf powers seeking to shape its future.
AGSI explains what Israel’s sudden and massive attack on Iran is likely to mean for Gulf Arab states, Iran, the United States, and global and regional economies.
The conflict in Yemen has exacted a disastrous toll on the country. This paper considers the outside forces in the conflict, seeking to elucidate who they are, what the nature is of their involvement, and what their converging and conflicting interests mean for reconstruction.
This post is part of an AGSIW series on Saudi Vision 2030, a sweeping set of programs and reforms adopted by the Saudi government to be implemented by 2030. Saudi Arabia did one thing right this week. It is seeing some positive news in the return on investment in its outwardly placed capital in new technology....
