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School of Government & International Affairs

Staff Profiles

Publication details for Dr Christopher Davidson

Davidson, Christopher M. (2010). Persian Gulf - Pacific Asia Linkages in the Twenty-First Century: A Marriage of Convenience? London School of Economics / Kuwait Programme Research Papers 1(7): 1-35.

Author(s) from Durham

Abstract

An important new relationship is developing between the six monarchies of the Persian Gulf and the three most industrialized states of Pacific Asia. With little shared modern economic history and enormous political and socio-economic disparities, and separated by great geographical distances, the rapidly tightening economic interdependence between the two regions is a recent phenomenon that deserves considerable attention. This paper dissects this by examining both the hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon
trades between the two regions before turning to their increasingly bilateral sovereign wealth investments and their cooperation on major construction and infrastructural projects. The paper will then explain the absence of military security arrangements, but
will also demonstrate how several other measures are being taken to create stronger non-economic bonds. Finally, a number of future collaborations will be discussed: for the most part these are not only innovative, but also highly symbolic of a more interdependent relationship.