As the monarchy appears to question its grandest projects, the state could do with more critical debate than rote cheerleading.
Andrew Leber
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The financial interdependence that sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) created between the West and the Arab world could help stabilize multilateral relations and promote economic development and political stability in the Middle East, concludes a new paper from the Carnegie Middle East Center.
BEIRUT, Oct 15—The financial interdependence that sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) created between the West and the Arab world could help stabilize multilateral relations and promote economic development and political stability in the Middle East, concludes a new paper from the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Sven Behrendt studies the rise of Arab SWFs, assesses their investment strategy, and evaluates the policies of Arab investors and Western nations. He also analyzes the political implications of policy initiatives, such as the International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds convened by the IMF, which agreed to new voluntary principles and investment practices in Washington last Saturday.
Key conclusions
Behrendt cautions:
“It is vital that the International Working Group’s work acquires a high degree of political legitimacy, anticipating the tremendous growth of SWFs in the mid-term future, further straining any new financial markets regime. Otherwise states will revert to national legislation in regard to regulating SWFs. The outcomes of these policy processes risk becoming a function of the domestic discourse between pragmatists and populists in the Western countries.”
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