Publication

Talk abounds of ‘emerging powers’ taking a greater share of global economic and political power. The international system is being recast, and attention focuses on the more assertive roles being assumed by China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, as well as the likes of Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, and Russia. It is striking that relatively little attention is paid within such debates to Middle Eastern states. It is important to ask whether indicators in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may or may not merit this region also being included in discussions of new emerging powers.