Public Relations In The Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

The Arab world has engaged in public relations for thousands of years, and the public relations literature provides multiple examples extending from ancient times. However, modern public relations is much more vaguely defined. This is partly because the research surrounding public relations practice in the Middle East remains sparse, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This book presents a clear picture of contemporary PR practice in this region, providing a background on the evolution of public relations in each GCC country. It shows how environmental factors (historical, cultural, socio-political, and economic) influence practice in the region. It also contributes to public relations scholarship, education, and practice worldwide by providing new perspectives to those unfamiliar with its practice in this region. This book will benefit scholars and practitioners alike through its informed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of practice in the GCC countries, as well as being of great benefit to the development of professional practice in the region.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), made up of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is one of the most resilient sub-regional organizations in the world, and the most successful in the Arab world. it has been the forum through which much security cooperation in this volatile sub-region has taken place, as well as the main representative for the UAE's territorial dispute with Iran over the Abu Musa and tunbs islands. the organization aims to enhance defence cooperation between its member states. it also has significant potential to foster economic integration and to present an alternative form of leverage over the international oil markets. Very little is known however about how the organization really works: how decisions are actually taken, as opposed to how this process is formally articulated in its charter, and what the GCC's real impact on member states, the gulf and international relations is.Drawing on cutting-edge ir theoretical perspectives as well as unique firsthand access to GCC decision-makers, Matteo Legrenzi explains the mechanisms of Gulf cooperation - and its limitations - in the context of economic globalization, diplomatic regionalization and the rise of Iran. Combining historical context, primary source investigations and theoretical analysis, this is a comprehensive guide to the GCC and an indispensable resource for anyone concerned with the Gulf and the Middle East.

The National Perspectives on the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices series is the first to offer an authentic world-wide view of the history of public relations. It will feature six books, five of which will cover continental and regional groups. This third book in the series focuses on the Middle East and Africa.

The fourth edition of Global Communication is the most comprehensive, multidisciplinary, multicultural, authoritative, and cutting-edge book published in the fields of media, culture, journalism, and communications. Twenty-four highly accomplished and prominent media scholars representing ten countries provide a survey of international communication, public relations and advertising, implications of globalization, international law and regulation, global culture, propaganda, transnational media, the shifting politics of media, trends in communication and information technology, and much more. The fourth edition includes six new contributors (Lee B. Artz, Daniela V. Dimitrova, Berna Ackali Gur, Petros Iosifidis, Perry Keller, and Nicholas Nicoli) who cover such issues as politics of global culture, global theories, global law, implications of internet and politics. Other chapters are fully updated to foreground contemporary examples and major events that have impacted our global communication environment. Collectively, new contributions and updated chapters reflect the rapid technological and communications changes that are taking place nationally and globally. This eclectic book helps students to understand the emergence of globalization and its effects on a worldwide scale. Contributors: Lee B. Artz, George A. Barnett, Vibert C. Cambridge, Jane Campbell, Theresa Carilli, Benjamin A. Davis, Daniela V. Dimitrova, John D. H. Downing, Richard A. Gershon, Berna Ackali Gur, Cees Hamelink, Petros Iosifidis, Yahya Kamalipour, Yeşim Kaptan, Perry Keller, Dean Kruckeberg, Lars Lundgren, Vincent Mosco, Nicholas Nicoli, Allen Palmer, Kuldip R. Rampal, Devan Rosen, Harmeet Sawhney, Richard Vincent, and Marina Vujnovic.

Through interviews with members of the Public Relations Society of America College of Fellows, this book provides lessons on public relations leadership for the next generation. Often, our focus on high profile leaders is centered on success stories, but so much can be learned from the trials, or “crucibles,” they have faced and how leaders overcame and were shaped by these challenges. The Fellows interviewed represent a diverse group of accomplished professionals with specializations ranging from military public affairs and government, corporate, education, agency, and nonprofit organizations. A focus on ethical values, virtues, and ethical leadership will inspire readers to themselves confidently lead. This book will be of interest to advanced students in public relations programs or young professionals looking to forge their careers in public relations leadership.

All of the GCC countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—are undergoing historic socio-economic transitions. They are facing enormous strains on public finances and challenging economic outlooks, due to fluctuating oil prices, demographic pressures, high unemployment rates, and a lack of economic diversification. These countries also are likely to feel the rising impact of climate change, and global policies to deal with it, over the coming decades. In addition, seemingly unstoppable shifts in the long-standing international order, notably the rise of China and uncertainties about U.S. leadership, have potentially serious implications for the Middle East and beyond. This by noted scholars and experts considers the key trends shaping Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries--Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirate-- ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, to climate change, economic disruptions, demographics and other domestic concerns, and shifts in the global order. The book’s chapters address such questions as: How will global megatrends impact the GCC? How can GCC states adjust and diversify their economies to meet the dual challenges of fluctuating oil prices and climate change? How can these states adjust their labor markets to absorb and support women and youth? How will inter GCC disagreements impact the region moving forward? And how will GCC relations with international actors shift in the coming years? This timely book, with its comprehensive analyses and policy recommendations, will be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in the GCC region, including policymakers, academics, and researchers at think tanks and nongovernmental organizations.

This book provides a comprehensive assessment of the various dimensions of the relationship between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and highlights how relations are yet to reach their full potential. Despite both parties sharing a number of common interests, including trade, energy, climate change, security and cultural cooperation, the multilateral cooperation framework remains limited, with most engagement taking place bilaterally, between individual European and GCC countries. The book reassesses the potential and prospects for the EU’s engagement with GCC countries based on the recalibration and reconciliation of both parties’ national and regional interests. Taking a thematic approach, each of the three sections of the book examines a key dimension of the relationship, its current status and its path forward.

This book explores the purpose, practice and effects of public relations (PR) at a time that has been variously described as an era of populism, post-truth and fake news. It considers how PR processes have contributed to the current social condition of post-truth and what constitutes PR work in this environment. Post-Truth Public Relations: Communication in an Era of Digital Disinformation proposes that while we can now look back upon the last 80–100 years as a period of classical PR, that style is being supplemented by the emergence of a post-classical form of PR that has emerged in response to the post-truth era. This new style of PR consists of a mixed repertoire of communicative work that matches the new geometry of digital media and delivers a mix of online engagement and persuasion in order to meet the needs of increasingly partisan audiences. Using contemporary case studies and original interviews with PR practitioners in several countries, including China and the Philippines, the book investigates how PR workers have reconciled their role as communicative intermediaries with the post-truth era of digital disinformation. This thought-provoking book will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students interested in the changing nature of PR and its practice.

This book represents the first systematic study of aspects of political communication in the Arabian Gulf region, one of the most important areas in the Middle East. It explores the relationship between the governments and the press, first through an examination of international and national political news coverage in the Gulf press, and second through an analysis of factors influencing selection of these news stories. The research examines one principal Arabic-language newspaper from each of the six Arabian Gulf countries: Al-Ayam (Bahrain), Al-Rai Al-Aam (Kuwait), Oman (Oman), Al-Sharq (Qatar), Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), and Al-Bayan (UAE). The analysis shows a culturally specific pattern of media model, distinct from that in the West or other areas in the world. This pattern can be understood through three government-press models. First, the loyalist press model prevailing in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in which a high level of government influence is seen, and the press is supportive and in line of the government. Second, the diverse press model, which exists in Kuwait and is characterized by a press with relative freedom and diversity. Third, the transitional press model, which describes the condition in Bahrain manifested with a mixed system of governmental control and elements of press freedom. As this pattern still exists, this book is important for decision makers, politicians, media communicators, research centers, journalism schools, media investors and newspapers industry to understand the media industry in this strategic area in the world.

The Gulf Cooperation Council represents both a model of development and unity in the Arab world and a working example of interstate cooperation to other nations. In this volume, contributors describe the rationale for Gulf unity and cooperation and analyze the financial, economic, and legal institutions of the GCC member states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar). They focus on the GCC's role in maintaining stability in the Arabian peninsula, an area that is clearly vital to U.S. interests. Contributors pinpoint the essential elements of GCC unity, including its efforts to obtain optimum economic self-sufficiency, to maximize market share and revenue from oil production, and to establish an integrated legal framework. The GCC's unique security needs, given the member states' vast combined area and thinly spread populations, are also discussed. An overview of the strategic interests and policies of both superpowers toward the region reveals a history of decline in their influence and prestige that is a result, it is argued, of misperceptions and misguided policies. Finally, documentation and bibliographic sections enhance the book's usefulness as a handbook on the GCC and the Arabian Gulf states.