The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies have achieved a remarkable transformation over the past 30 years. Saudi Arabia and its smaller neighbouring countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were once at the economic periphery of the world’s trading system. The discovery and systematic production of oil since the 1960s has changed this narrative fundamentally, as petrodollars have enabled the GCC to advance into one of the world’s wealthiest regions, stylized by the ultramodern skylines of cities such as Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha.