The Middle East is experiencing the world's most prominent youth bulge. Yet many MENA economies' institutional designs, both formal and informal, favour the power of business elites, systematically discriminating against young people joining the workforce or opening businesses, and thus limiting their ability to contribute to innovation. Large youth populations can be a boon or a curse: nurtured and integrated, they can jumpstart stratospheric growth; but if alienated and confined, they can drain a society politically and economically. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries are no exception to this perilous dilemma. This book explores the problem through a new concept, 'creative insecurity': a state's subjection to an institutional ecosystem that is suppressing opportunities for innovation--to the extent that it is causing economic and political vulnerabilities, which in turn threaten national security. Creative insecurity threatens the longevity of many states today. In this original, incisive study, Dania Thafer argues that GCC member-states should make it a national security imperative to cash in their demographic dividend, by averting the deleterious effects of ill-disposed elite politics. Investing in an innovation ecosystem that harnesses the talent of the youth majority will be crucial for the GCC's successful transition to the post-oil era.

The defence and security status of the Gulf region is facing a dilemma between the maintenance of regional security and the preservation of domestic security interests. The consequences for the Gulf and the greater Middle East are addressed in this edited volume, with contributions from practitioners as well as academics. For a variety of contributing factors, the defence and security status of the Gulf region is facing a dilemma between the maintenance of regional security and the preservation of domestic security interests. This dilemma stems from the perceived decline of U.S. influence and lingering consequences of the Arab Spring movements. Divisions and armed conflicts, both within the Gulf itself and the surrounding region, are a result of this changing political order and the ascension of many of the Gulf states on the international scene. These evolving dynamics will set in motion various defence and security consequences for the Gulf and the greater Middle East which are addressed in this edited volume. With contributions from practitioners as well as academics, this book will be a vital resource for both researchers and policymakers.