Contemporary Sociopolitical Issues of the Arab Gulf Moment (Essay Sample)

Contemporary Sociopolitical Issues of the Arab Gulf Moment
Name
Institution Affliction
Summary
It is observable that things are rapidly changing in the Arab Gulf States (AGS). Amongst the changes are the sociopolitical realities which are majorly based on the same tribal, conservative and the traditional way of life. It has come to be noted that the ultimate drivers that are coming up with massive changes are on the other hand preserving the continuity of sociopolitical in the AGS (Totten & Pedersen, 2012). Amongst the hotly debated issues in the AGS are debate based on societal change and continuity and the new verses the old thinking of the said changes. Moreover, the Kuwait/Dubai development model debate, the political reform/political stagnation debate, the local/global debate, needlessly the thorny national identity/ demographic imbalance debate and the rentier state/post rentier state debate are other key contemporary sociopolitical issues that have been publicly debated. These debates are among some of the most conflict-ridden sociopolitical topics that are presently haunting societies and governments of the AGS. The future of political development heavily relies on how the AGS manage to successfully handle these pending new and old challenges that are facing the states.
The way these sociopolitical issues are ran in the next decade is the determinant of the transition of the AGS not only in line of upright governance, steady and thriving entities, but also their final emergence as the main center of supremacy shaping Arab politics in the first half of the 21st century. It is therefore important to select the best approach to deal with these discussion as most of them focus mainly on the negatives rather that the positives.
Reflection
The author of this paper Abdulla tried to outline the major issues and thoughts that are the lead of the rational and academic discussion in the AGS. With that in mind, the central question that comes into the picture has to do with the new thinking which is in line of old thinking. The discussion results to several questions that need to be answered at the end of it all. Such questions include, what answers the inhibited widespread demand for political reform the AGS? What are gains and pains of going global for the AGS? And have the AGS finally transcended their unhealthy dependence on oil and are witnessing the end of the rentier state structure and mentality?
There are a number of ways to tackle these frequently asked questions as there are many new and old tactics to come into understanding with the present stage of growth of the worldwide noteworthy AGS. Noticeably, the mostly held perception that the AGS have only one thing to put on the table which is oil is a misperception. It is an absurd opinion that does not tally with the prevailing sociopolitical actualities in the said states (Ramady, 2012). Similarly the exceptionalism perception which proclaims that the AGS have exceptional economic and sociopolitical traits that are scarcely found in any other equivalent group of states is not as considerable as it in the old times used to be. The normality tactic which treats the AGS as a distinctive case of third world states is completely out dated and is no longer pertinent to figure out the particularities of the AGS. Instead of being captive to imposing theories of patronizing promises, the author anchors his points of view in the issue-centered sight of AGS. It is indeed an extremely significant and substantially more fascinating approach than the studies that are centered in the theory aspect of the AGS. It brings in the vibrant nature of the AGS as fast modernizing, fast changing, and fast globalizing yet the states are intensely entrenched to their own tribal morals, societal importance, political organization and the old ways of living that are noticeable virtually everywhere (Leavy, 2012). The author chooses this approach since it is based on four major assumptions. The first one being that the discussed issues do not come into existence in isolation b...