Date of Award

2023

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Political Science and Economics, PhD interfield

Program

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Meliss Rogers

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Yi Feng

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Ambassador Sallama Shaker

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Ambassador Sallama Shaker

Terms of Use & License Information

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Rights Information

© 2023 Verkine (Vicky) Keukpanossian (Panossian)

Keywords

Diversification, Economic Growth, GCC, Hydrocarbons, Renewable Energy, Transition to Green Energy

Subject Categories

Economic Theory | International Relations | Political Science

Abstract

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to play a strategic role in the global energy system. They account for a fifth of the global oil production and enjoy relatively high GDP per Capita, and their economies heavily rely on oil-producing and exporting at a time when the West is pushing towards net-zero, low-carbon emissions by 2050. This study focuses on the energy sector and takes a transdisciplinary look at Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and tries to understand how these rentier monarchies that have built a solid global comparative advantage in producing and exporting oil and oil-related products and created well-managed, profitable, state-owned enterprises can transition to green energy. Working within the frameworks of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, World Economic Forum's Energy Transition Readiness Index, and Global Competitiveness, as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Green Future index, this study will attempt to provide a critical assessment of these three monarchies' domestic political, economic, regional, geopolitical, competitive, and social instabilities, identifying the factors that will enable or hinder their transition to green energy and the incentives that will encourage the political leaders to adopt policies to drive the transition.

ISBN

9798381718560

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