The Political-Economic Hybridism of the United Arab Emirates as a NewType State

Daniel Petrov
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Daniel Petrov: Institute of Agrarian Economics, Sofia, Bulgaria

Ikonomiceski i Sotsialni Alternativi, 2025, issue 2, 65-83

Abstract: This article explores the political-economic model of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through the lens of authoritarian modernity, post-rentier transformation, and strategic adaptation under conditions of global uncertainty. The analysis challenges the classical assumptions of modernization theory, which posit that economic growth inevitably leads to political liberalization, by demonstrating how the UAE consolidates an authoritarian structure through contemporary governance tools, innovation, and international legitimacy. The methodology is based on a qualitative analysis of secondary data from international sources (World Bank, FAO), combined with critical interpretation of relevant theoretical frameworks in institutional economics, development sociology, and comparative politics. The central thesis of the study is that the UAE represents a new type of statehood-hybrid, technocratic, and globally positioned – where legitimacy derives not from democratic mechanisms but from efficiency, outcomes, and control over rentier and infrastructural flows. The article examines five key dimensions of this model: political system, economic diversification, sustainable agriculture, social policy, and foreign policy. Each of these demonstrates how state power is transformed into an instrument for managing the future. The article offers a new perspective on understanding the possible configurations between power, economy, and society in the 21st century and serves as a critical contribution to the debate on alternatives to the liberal political order.

Keywords: UAE; sustainable development; political economy; authoritarian modernity; rentier state. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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