The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, represented by three researchers from its Political Economy Unit, participated the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) held at the University of Seville in Spain in July 2018.

Dr. Makio Yamada (Head of Unit) and Mr. Faris Al-Sulayman (Research Fellow) participated in the panel session titled “Visions of Gulf Development”, which took place on 18 July. Dr. Yamada presented a paper titled “Post- or Neoclassical?: Vision and the Future of Rentierism”; Mr. Al-Sulayman presented a paper titled “State-Business Relations in a Transforming Saudi Economy: Opportunities and Challenges”. 

Dr. Mark C. Thompson (Senior Associate Fellow/KFUPM) joined the session “The Temptations of Regional Hegemony?: The Rise and Fall of Regional Powers in the Middle East”, which took place on the same day. He presented a paper titled “Redefining the Saudi ‘Distributional’ System: Domestic Stakeholders and Public Expectations in a Low-Oil Price Era”.