Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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Kuwait and Iraq have worked hard to rebuild bilateral ties. Resolving their maritime dispute as part of larger discussions could provide a model of diplomacy.
Despite flagging oil revenues and the introduction of conscription in the Gulf, the use of foreign contract soldiers, sometimes called mercenaries, is here to stay.
While the Middle East needs a collective security architecture, the U.S. proposal must be changed if it is actually going to exist—let alone succeed.
Gulf-based Salafi financiers have had a diminished role in the Syrian civil war recently, but their influence will linger in the country's religious sphere.
The Salafi Community has established a strong presence in state institutions while also expanding its transnational linkages.
The twin shocks of the Euro debt crisis and the Arab Spring are forcing members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to grapple with old and new challenges, including overreliance on oil, changing trade relationships, and regional integration.
The unprecedented change in the Middle East has created immediate challenges to maintaining social cohesion and macroeconomic stability. Over the longer-term, countries must define their own political, social, and economic transformations.
The private sector has become the main driver of growth in the Middle East and North Africa, but more consistent and equitable regulations are needed to transform the region into a diversified, high-performance economy.
The economic outlook for the Gulf Cooperation Council remains encouraging, but the crisis has revealed financial sector vulnerabilities that need to be addressed in order to limit future disruptions of economic growth.
Kuwait’s May 2008 elections dealt a setback to the local affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Constitutional Movement (HADAS) rewarding more rigid salafi Islamists and tribal candidates. The new parliament is likely to be less cohesive, and the result will be a deepening political deadlock between the government and the parliament in the Gulf’s most democratic political order.