Europe and the Gulf: A Return to Normalcy?

The continuing debt crisis in the eurozone area and the sluggish performance of leading European economies has sapped EU officials’ room for maneuver both in the long-running negotiations with the Gulf states and in terms of their engagement with the transition countries of North Africa. By contrast, the GCC states appear to be more robust in mid-2013 than at any point since the start of the Arab uprisings in January 2011. Although long-term challenges are building up, short-term developments across the Arab world have worked in the conservative monarchies’ favor, confirming the Gulf states as the region’s great political survivors, at least for now.