Middle Eastern Think Tanks Along the Persian Gulf Considered

 While President Bush was in office he went to the Middle East, and he talked with Arab leaders about the need for them to develop their economies in the future so they would be able to sustain themselves without selling their oil. He made this comment because he noted that these Arab nations live in arid regions, and they have to import much of their food, desalinate their water, and still have a robust economy to provide work and money flow - and eventually that oil will all be pumped out of the ground and they will have nothing to sell.

Is he right for warning these Middle Eastern countries? I believe so, but I also believe that it is up to them to solve these challenges in advance for themselves. Arab businessmen tend to be quite successful, frugally and financially responsible with their companies, and plenty smart enough to figure this out. That is if they focus on this challenge which lies ahead, perhaps within the next 20 or 30 years. This is why I was not so surprised when I learned of the many Middle Eastern Think Tanks.

There was an interesting article recently in Gulf News by Mishaal Al Gergawi on May 22, 2011 titled; "A Think-Tank for the UAE," which made some great comments that many folks may not have considered, namely that;

"National think-tanks are not a western phenomenon. In Latin America, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile have had active think-tanks even during periods of military dictatorships. Brazil boasts a number of pro-market institutes including the Getulio Vargas Foundation, CEBRI and Instituto Liberdado. In South Korea, the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Sciences has been instrumental in building its knowledge economy."

The article also spoke of Hong Kong, Turkey, and Middle Eastern Think Tanks, and made mention of think tanks around the world, in places most would not even realize so much thought was going on. Most impressive was the work going on in the UAE as they work to prepare for a post oil economy. They are working to promote education, research and development, and entrepreneurship. Will this work, is this the answer to their future stability? After all many nations talk about innovation as the key to their success, but is it really that easy?

The UAE is on the leading edge of innovation, and if they continue down this road they will become a technologically advanced civilization and society, some would argue they already are, much more advanced than most. Perhaps in the future with proper education, smart infrastructure build-out, and training their next generation to be the business leaders they need to get this done - their plans just may just work. With a smart set of think tanks solving the problems of industry, and the challenges they face it is quite possible that they will win.

At which time when they run out of oil or as the world switches to alternative energy solutions, it won't really matter, as their economies will have evolved into that future. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it. If you have any comments, concerns, questions, case studies, or reports and research with empirical data to back it up, then please shoot me an e-mail.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.