Sustainable development in the Arabian Gulf States: coercion and solutions

SUMMARY

In 1981, six oil producing countries from the Arabian Gulf States decided to form a union, now known as the Gulf Co-operation Council States (GCCS). The members of the council are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman. The main declared objective of the council was to maintain good cooperation ties between these states to achieve economic, social and environmental development. Massive oil revenues were spent on many development projects such as housing, water, health and sanitation. In consequence, the quality of life improved in comparison to the pre-oil era situation. However, the sharp decline in oil price exposed concealed problems. This paper attempts to investigate the dilemma of development in the GCCS and ways of achieving sustainable development in them.

Key words:

• Gulf Co-operation Council States
• sustainable development
• social classes
• elite
• innovation process
• environment