Introduction: the geo-economic power of the Gulf, Bessma Momani and Matteo Legrenzi; Part I Economic Diversification and Rentier Politics in the Gulf Arab States: Gulf Arab states' investment of oil revenues, Mary Ann Tetreault; The political economy of monetary integration and exchange rate regime in the GCC, Giacomo Luciani; Economic diversification in the Gulf Arab states: lip service or actual implementation of a new development model?, Martin Hvidt; The evolution of rent recycling during two booms in the Gulf Arab states: business dynamism and societal stagnation, Steffen Hertog; Institutional competition and symbiosis in the Gulf: the politics of efforts to establish an international Islamic financial policy forum, Andrew Baker; Oil and financialization in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Samer N. Abboud. Part II Gulf Arab Investments and Trade: The GCC's international investment dynamics: the role of sovereign wealth funds, Rachel Ziemba and Anton Malkin; Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds: the challenge of transparency, Sara Bazoobandi and Timothy Niblock; Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds: governance and institution building, Sven Behrendt; Shifting Gulf Arab investments into the Mashreq: underlying political economy rationales?, Bessma Momani; The Gulf Arab states and Asia Pacific: geo-economics and interdependency, Christopher M. Davidson; Geo-political complications of US free trade agreements with Gulf Arab countries, Fred H. Lawson; Conclusion - repositioning the Gulf: the GC in the 21st century global political economy, Crystal A. Ennis and Paul Doherty; Index.