Archive / Other publications
Political change in the Gulf States: beyond Cosmetic Reform?
01/11/2006 By Ana Echagüe
The Gulf monarchies – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – stand to become increasingly important for European foreign policy concerns.
These states are a primary focus of the European Union’s new energy security policy, European counter-terrorist efforts and a new programme of NATO security cooperation. In the wake of several leadership successions and with elections either having recently been held or imminent in several Gulf states, it is essential for European foreign policy interests that the extent and form of political change in the region be fully understood.
While the obstacles to far-reaching reform remain formidable, Gulf polities increasingly have revealed themselves to be less static and more complex than regularly assumed
This Backgrounder looks at some of the detailed aspects of – and limits to – the Gulf’s reform processes in order to help shed light on debates over the future evolution of its monarchies.
Download the full version of this publication, available in English (246 kB)
Spanish (254 kB)
To read or listen to the comments of our experts in the media about this and other topics, please visit our Press section.
Keywords
Bahrain Kuwait Middle East Oman Political Reform Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab EmiratesBio author: Ana Echagüe
Political reform in the Arab World. Yemen. Saudi Arabia. Democratisation. Gulf Cooperation Council.
