The Gulf’s boundless ambition to change the world
Now it wants to export its model. But the region faces grave dangers
If you thought the Middle East was stagnant, think again. The Gulf economies are among the richest and most vibrant on the planet, helped by a Brent crude oil price that rose back to over $90 per barrel this week. A $3.5trn fossil-fuel bonanza is being spent on everything from home-grown artificial intelligence models and shiny new cities in the desert, to filling the coffers of giant sovereign-wealth funds that roam the world’s capital markets looking for deals.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The new Middle East”
Leaders September 9th 2023
- The Gulf’s boundless ambition to change the world
- America’s Supreme Court should adopt new ethics standards
- Can Javier Milei’s radical libertarianism save Argentina?
- Heat pumps show how hard decarbonisation will be
- Wall Street is racing to manage your wealth. That is a good thing
- China’s Belt and Road Initiative will keep testing the West
From the September 9th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Leaders
Sir Keir Starmer should aim higher in his reset with the EU
And he needs to be clearer about what Britain wants
To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids
Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity
Chinese AI is catching up, posing a dilemma for Donald Trump
The success of DeepSeek and other Chinese modelmakers threatens America’s lead
America has an imperial presidency
And in Donald Trump, an imperialist president for the first time in over a century
Tariffs will harm America, not induce a manufacturing rebirth
Donald Trump’s pursuit of tariffs will make the world poorer—and America, too
How to improve clinical trials
Involving more participants can lead to new medical insights