Beating the Oil Curse?

Natural resource abundance is not necessarily a blessing for countries but can bring with it manifold challenges, which potentially lead to conflict, the absence of democracy and eventually, economic decline. This phenomenon is known as the resource curse and it is argued that oil abundance in particular leads to the creation of rentier states. How countries can overcome macroeconomic problems and diversify their economies away from resource dependency is therefore an important question. In this book Jana Kleibert argues that the United Arab Emirates, and specifically Dubai, have taken important steps towards building service-based economies. Investments into infrastructure and real estate have been made to create a hub for global trade, tourism and finance. Confronted with the global financial crisis, however, the model s inherent structural vulnerability is exposed.

Autorentext

Jana Maria Kleibert holds a Master of Science in International Relations (Political Science) and works at the University of Amsterdam. Her areas of interest are international political economy, globalisation and service-based economies.