Beyond the rentier bargain: SMEs and state control in Gulf states’ diversification

Focusing on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait from their national vision launches to present, the study challenges classical rentier state theory by analysing SME development institutions as instruments of economic statecraft. Through comparative case study analysis, the research demonstrates that SME promotion functions not as market liberalisation but as a mechanism for maintaining hegemony while engineering a new economic trajectory.

Findings reveal divergent institutional trajectories across the three cases, with implications for understanding regime resilience and economic governance in post-oil transition contexts.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31st July 2031.</i>