Research Library

This report highlights the results from an expert survey carried out as part of a two-year research project on pluralism and inclusion in the post-Arab Spring regional landscape, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The survey generated policy-relevant responses that provide nuanced insight into key public policy challenges in Gulf countries that — Bahrain apart —did not experience significant political upheaval after 2011 but nevertheless could see economic (un)sustainability develop into major determinants of political (in)stability in the years ahead.

This brief explores how a quirk in the measurement of women’s labor force participation and the demographic peculiarities of the Persian Gulf have resulted in the significant undercounting of female citizen labor in the Gulf Cooperation Council. I

Whereas the royal decree granting Kuwaiti women the right to vote and run for elections in May 2005 raised hopes for political recognition, the glass ceiling remains intact, blocking females’ access to the decision-making process, write fellow Marwa Shalaby and research associate Adan Obeid. The authors examine the factors affecting women's political representation in the Kuwaiti parliament in this article published by the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

Fellows Gabriel Collins and Jim Krane argue in this issue brief that despite changes in U.S.-Persian Gulf trade relations, the U.S. retains an enduring interest in preserving political stability and securing oil flows from the region.

Instability in the Middle East will continue without pluralistic political systems that include opposition voices, women and ethnic minorities in the decision-making process. The continual marginalization of these groups will lead to heightened levels of popular discontent and even violence.

This paper examines the progress of energy subsidy reforms in the Persian Gulf, documenting policy changes in all six monarchies and briefly examining the role of energy and the state.

This working paper discusses the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

With the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, many Gulf Cooperative Council states now openly wonder whether U.S. support can still be relied upon, given the speed with which the U.S. government has engaged Iran in negotiation and diplomacy since 2013. This incomprehension may lead to further instability in the Middle East as the Gulf States continue to take increasingly unilateral action in Yemen and other regional conflict zones, fellow for the Middle East Kristian Coates Ulrichsen writes.

Jim Krane, fellow in energy studies, examines how reforms to subsidy programs and increases in gas and electricity prices could lower energy use in the GCC.

This report sheds light on the challenges facing women in Kuwait to play a more substantive role in the decision-making process.