RETHINKING MULTINATIONAL STRATEGY IN THE GCC

Rethinking Multinational Strategy in the GCC - Thirty Years Later examines how the Gulf business environment has been transformed since the late 1990s and what that transformation means for multinational companies operating in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.

Nearly thirty years after Dr. Gil Feiler first analyzed multinational strategy in the Middle East for the Economist Intelligence Unit, he returns to the subject with a new study built around the extraordinary rise of the GCC as one of the world's most important centers of capital, energy, infrastructure, technology, logistics, and investment.

The book combines strategic analysis with 48 detailed corporate case studies - 24 international multinationals and 24 leading GCC companies. It examines how companies enter Gulf markets, form partnerships, negotiate with governments and state-owned enterprises, localize production and employment, compete for major projects, manage regulatory and geopolitical risk, and build sustainable positions in rapidly changing economies.

The analysis covers energy and LNG, financial services, infrastructure, consumer markets, technology and artificial intelligence, industrial development, localization policies, foreign labor, ownership structures, capital allocation, government relationships, and the growing power of sovereign wealth funds and national champions.

Particular attention is given to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, reflecting their scale, investment intensity, multinational presence, and strategic importance, while also examining significant developments across Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.

The central argument is that the GCC is no longer simply a market into which Western or Asian multinationals bring capital, technology, and managerial expertise. Gulf governments and companies have become more sophisticated, better capitalized, more selective, and increasingly capable of shaping the terms on which foreign companies operate.

Drawing on decades of research and direct professional involvement in the region, including advisory work with multinational companies and the investment authority of Ras Al Khaimah, Dr. Feiler compares the strategies of American, European, Asian, and regional firms and asks a practical question: which business models actually create durable value in the Gulf today?

Rethinking Multinational Strategy in the GCC is intended for executives, investors, policymakers, consultants, academics, business-school readers, and anyone seeking to understand how one of the world's fastest-changing economic regions now works.