When rulership becomes privileged booty (ghanı¯mah): the condition of the Gulf Cooperation Council (*)

Abstract:

The first part of this article will discuss the most important turning point in the thinking of the ruling families of the region as epitomized in the view of power and governance as though they both constituted a ghanı¯mah (booty) and an inheritance. The second part will discuss the political stagnation that these nations have suffered as a result of the expansion of the institutions of al-ghanı¯mah. The third part will attempt to clarify the implications of the ‘mindset of booty’ (al-ghanı¯mah) with regard to Palestinian and the larger Arab environs in general. The fourth section will attempt to offer a vision of the future in the Gulf region and surrounding areas.

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Keywords:

Gulf

Gulf-cooperation council

Ruler-ship

View of power

Political inheritance