Democratizing the Arab states. The case of monarchies of the Gulf, 1991-2004

"The Arab Humań Development Reports 2002 and 2003, prepared by a group of leading Arab intellectuals under the auspices of the UNDP and the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development brought a very pessimistic view of the Arab world.1 The combined gross domestic product of the 22 Arab countries was lesser than Spain’s. Labor productivity in these countries dropped between 1960 and 1990, while it soared elsewhere in the world. Even Africa outperformed the Arab world in rates of economic growth. An exploding population cannot be supported by scarce resources and every other citizen is ready to emigrate. At the same time, the wealthiest 85,000 Saudis have overseas assets of $700 billions."(...