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AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain

Part of the IAIS Visiting Speaker Series

UK ties with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies are under the spotlight as never before. Huge controversy surrounds Britain’s alliances with these deeply repressive regimes, and the UK’s key supporting role in the disastrous Saudi-led intervention in Yemen has lent added urgency to the debate. What are the nature of the ties between the British state and British capitalism on the one hand, and the Gulf Arab monarchies on the other? Why have Anglo-Arabian relations grown even closer in recent years, despite ongoing, egregious human rights violations?


Event details

Open to all

Abstract

In this ground-breaking analysis, David Wearing argues that the Gulf Arab monarchies constitute the UK’s most important and lucrative alliances in the global south. They are central both to the British government’s ambitions to retain its status in the world system, and to sustaining the UK’s neoliberal economic model. Exploring the complex and intertwined structures of UK-Gulf relations in trade and investment, arms sales and military cooperation, and energy, Wearing shines a light on the shocking lengths to which the British state has gone in order to support these regimes.

Dr David Wearing is a Teaching Fellow in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he lectures on US Foreign Policy, Non-State Violence, and the Political Economy of the Middle East. He completed his PhD on UK relations with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab monarchies at SOAS, University of London, and his thesis was converted into the popular book, ‘AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters To Britain’. He frequently provides comment and analysis for media outlets such as Sky News, the New York Times, the BBC, the Guardian, LBC, the New Statesman and Novara Media.

Please join us for tea and coffee in the IAIS Common Room from 17:00.

Everyone is very welcome to attend and there is no need to register.

Dr David Wearing

AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britiain

Location:

IAIS Building/LT1