Dawn of a new era in the Gulf
The academic and public debate on the subject of the states of the Arabian Peninsula – and in particular the six Gulf monarchies – has gained momentum over the past ten to fifteen years.
On the one hand, interdisciplinary research on the Middle East is examining the changing role of the Gulf states in the region, which is of course linked to domestic political stress factors and upheavals.
Sebastian Sons, a political analyst with a background in Islamic Studies, aptly describes the current situation as nothing less than the reinvention of societies that are abandoning old certainties.
On the other hand, futuristic visions of development and the "ambitious ego of those in power" have meanwhile attracted the attention of the wider public. Multi-billion dollar investments in national and international football and the hosting of major international events in the region have raised questions in people's minds.
What's more, the Asian Winter Games, which are scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia in 2029, are cleaving to an obstinate narrative of making the (climatically) impossible possible.
Searching for a new identity
In his new book, the title of which translates as "The new rulers in the Gulf and their quest for global influence", Sons effortlessly bridges the two literary currents mentioned above. He demonstrates a keen instinct for tailoring his book to a single target group comprising both academics and a broader reading public. His illuminating explanation of complex historical conditions points the way to resolving present-day contradictions.
He is able to do so by telling anecdotes about his own experiences from numerous stays in the region, while at the same time never straying from the secure foundation of the relevant academic debate. Here, however, he might have omitted a few extremely detailed references to improve the flow of the text.
Sons provides an excellent account of how societies on the Arabian Peninsula are undergoing several forms of change simultaneously as they search for a new identity. Despite these changes, he explains how traditional practices of the past continue to play a role and are used by the ruling elites to safeguard their power.
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Transregional independencies
In this way, the author manages to overcome the "container logic" of yesteryear that holds that the Middle East should be viewed as an isolated subject. Instead, Sons describes the region with all its myriad transregional interdependencies, giving careful consideration to significant shifts and upheavals in the international order, thus counteracting many a hasty – in most cases Eurocentric – view of the region as being "different".
Following an introduction, the book is divided into six chapters that pursue a logic of increasing abstraction and a point of view centred on the main stakeholders and elites. Sons begins with fundamental considerations on the categories of the state, rule and the legitimisation of the current order (Chapter 1) as a way of helping readers to understand the stress factors affecting the politics of power today.
The focus here is on the diversification of the rentier economies of the Gulf, including how migration policy is distorting a changing labour market, and also on questions of national identity (Chapter 2).
The latter forms the springboard for moving on to the regional and international levels (Chapter 3) and looking at how the Gulf states are now coming to prominence on the international stage (Chapter 4).
A plea for more honesty
On this topic, Sons spans a fascinating arc from climate and energy policy to the role of the Gulf states in shaping development cooperation, to a well-researched examination of sports policy as a field of political action for the Gulf and Arab region.
This central plank of the book allows the author to integrate the aforementioned findings into a discussion of the current political discourse in Europe and Germany in the two concluding chapters, citing the concrete example of German-Gulf relations. Sons's plea for more expectation management, honesty and empathy captures the zeitgeist of a German foreign policy towards the Gulf region that has been obstructing itself in recent years.
In summary, Sons's book can be unreservedly recommended to a broad target group, from students of politics and the Middle East and stakeholders in the fields of politics, media, business and culture to an interested public that would like to better understand the increasing influence of the Gulf states and their drive to shape current events. In short, this is highly recommended reading!
© Qantara.de 2024
Translated from the German by Jennifer Taylor
Sebastian Sons, Die neuen Herrscher am Golf und ihr Streben nach globalem Einfluss (currently available in German only), Dietz, 2023, 328 pages, ISBN 978-3-8012-0660-4
Thomas Demmelhuber is Professor of Politics and Society of the Middle East at Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg.