Publication

This brief addresses Europe's dilemma of how to engage with the ruling regimes in the Gulf without condoning their reactionary policies towards domestic reform. The author argues that despite the Gulf’s financial prowess and regional political clout, there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction fermenting in pockets of the population. Consistency with the stated European support for transitions elsewhere in the Arab world and realpolitik arguments demand a more nuanced EU approach to the Gulf States.