Arab Gulf/Dev’ment/Foreign Aid

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of the foreign aid and development programs of the Gulf states since their establishments. It begins by providing a brief analysis of theories and concepts of foreign aid and international relations. This will be followed by examination of origins, evolution, types, and mode of foreign assistance of the Gulf donors. The course will provide analysis as to ‘Why the Gulf States give aid?’, and therefore, will examine aid motives in depth. It investigates the politics of the Gulf foreign aid. Students will have the opportunity to understand in detail the foreign aid of the four main Arab aid donors, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Since the quadrupling of oil prices in early 1970s, the four Gulf donors emerged as major aid donors in the region. During the past twenty-five years, those donors have been competing to exert power and influence in the Middle East using financial assistance. In addition, the course will be looking at the aid recipient from both Arab and non-Arab countries. The course concludes by examining the future relationship between oil and aid in the Gulf. The Gulf States have used aid as a significant tool in their foreign policies, but what role these states can play after oil.