This is the first book-length empirical study of free zones (FZs) in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The volume systematically illustrates the development processes behind FZs in Gulf Arab states and assesses the impact of these commercial entities on regional integration, global trade and investment trends, and the Gulf’s foreign relations. FZ development is an understudied question in the wider literature on the Gulf – in this context, the theoretical implications and empirical findings of the work constitute a valuable addition to prevailing political economy debates concerning the region. The work maps how economic strategies unfold in the presence of available material resources on a local level while also demonstrating the ways in which they are shaped by the relationship of Gulf Arab states to regional and global accumulation circuits. weiterlesen