The Third World Quarterly (TWQ) recent Special Issue ‘Foreign Aid of Gulf States: Continuity and Change’ (Volume 45, Issue 15-16) explores how Gulf States’ foreign aid has transformed over the past two decades from being culturally and religiously motivated to becoming an instrument of geopolitical influence.
The first theme examines how Gulf States have transformed foreign aid into a strategic tool post-9/11 and Arab Uprisings. Donors have rebranded their aid to enhance transparency and align with global governance standards while maintaining significant bilateral aid flows, often to regions where they have direct political or military involvement. Centralised governance has curtailed non-state actors’ independence, with stricter state oversight shaping aid distribution to stabilise regimes, support allies, and bolster regional influence.
The second theme examines the Gulf States’ growing role as humanitarian donors. Despite increased global contributions, their aid remains largely bilateral, driven by strategic priorities over purely humanitarian needs. This approach allows greater control but limits multilateral collaboration. Case studies reveal how aid reflects political agendas, prioritising strategically important regions. While transparency and logistical efficiency have improved, the intertwining of aid with political interests raises concerns about its impact on long-term stability and development.
The volume underscores how Gulf States balance humanitarianism with strategic imperatives, reshaping regional and global aid landscapes.
This Special Issue comes at a time of increasing political, military, and humanitarian influence by the Arab Gulf States in the Middle East and North Africa region. It examines how Gulf States’ foreign aid has been shaped by major historical events such as 9/11 and the Arab Uprisings, evolving into a significant political tool for influencing events and shaping the discourse on humanitarianism in the region, all while trying to brand themselves within the framework of global governance principles of transparency, accountability, and humanitarian impartiality.
Mohammad Yaghi, Hanaa Almoaibed and Silvia Colombo
About the Special Issue Guest Editors
Mohammad Yaghi is a researcher with expertise in Middle East politics and the internal and foreign relations of the Gulf States. He has taught at the University of Guelph, University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and Naif Arab University for Security Sciences. His research covers Palestinian political institutions, social and Islamic movements, sectarianism in Arab media, and the politics of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East.
His recent publications are ‘Kuwait’s Foreign Aid: Motivations and Allocations’ (In The Making of Contemporary Kuwait, Routledge, 2024), ‘From Competition to Cooperation: The Radicalization Effect of Salafists on Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood in the aftermath of the 2011 Uprising’ (Journal of Middle East Law and Governance, 2021), ‘Frame Resonance, Innovative Tactics, and Poor People in the Tunisian Uprising’ (Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change, 2018), ‘Media and sectarianism in the Middle East’ (International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 2017)
Hanaa Almoaibed is a scholar specialising in education, youth and women’s issues in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, with research interests in work, education/skills and sustainability. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Research Fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Additionally, she serves as a council member for the British Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. She is active in the think tank sector as Consulting Fellow at Chatham House in London and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. She holds a PhD from University College London (UCL) and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Silvia Colombo is a researcher and Faculty Advisor in the Research Division of the NATO Defense College (NDC) in Rome. She is also Associate Fellow at the International Affairs Institute (IAI), where she formerly led the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme. Her research focuses on contemporary politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), EU and US foreign policies, and NATO’s role in the region’s conflicts. Her work also examines relations between the EU and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. She holds a PhD in comparative politics from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and a master’s degree in Near and Middle Eastern studies from SOAS, University of London. Her recent publications include ‘NATO and the Southern Flank’ (in J.A. Olsen (ed.), Routledge Handbook of NATO, Taylor & Francis, pp. 302-313, 2024); ‘Morocco’s Domestic Crisis of (Derailed) Democratisation’ (The Journal of North African Studies, 2023), ‘The Unrealized Potential of Cooperative Security in the Arab Gulf’ (NDC Policy Brief, 2022), and Political and Institutional Transition in North Africa: Egypt and Tunisia in Comparative Perspective (Routledge, 2018).
