Oil Wealth and Politics, Comparative study of the Middle East. (Saudia Arabia, UAE and Qatar)
Contributors
- Amna Nawaz Bachelors Scholar, Department of Political Science & International Relations, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
- Tallat Yasmin Lecture Department of Political Science & International Relations, Government College Women University, Faislabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
- Irha Fatima Bachelors Scholar, Department of Political Science & International Relations, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Abstract
This article will analyse how the wealth of petroleum has influenced the construction of rentier-state structures and the way they have exercised their power within the Arab Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar). In response to their discoveries of great oil and gas reserves; each of these countries created a rentier economy, in which an overwhelming majority of revenue generated by the government is received directly from petroleum exports, with little or no reliance on taxes paid domestically. These new forms of economic activity had profound impacts on state-society relations, systems of governance, and the means of exercising political authority. The theory upon which this research is founded a Rentier-State Theory. According to this theory, states relying on the revenues produced from oil sales can provide for their citizens economically by distributing income and other benefits, providing subsidies and social welfare programs to help reduce the amount of pressure placed upon them by their citizens demanding greater political rights and freedoms. In addition, this paper seeks to explore how oil wealth affects a state's foreign policy decisions, its relationships with neighbouring states, and how it exercises its influence in terms of geopolitical power politics throughout the entire Gulf region.
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