Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

How Britain is a bad influence on the Gulf states – an interview with David Wearing

Could Britain ever promote democracy in the Gulf? Only if it turns its own foreign policy away from neoliberalism and militarism, David Wearing argues in a new book.

By Ian Sinclair and David Wearing
Published:
Share
britain saudi.jpg
britain saudi.jpg

Image: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman entering Downing Street in March 2018. Credit: NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images, all rights reserved.

Ian Sinclair: You argue that the UK’s interest in the Gulf’s vast oil and gas reserves is not about “direct energy supply” to the UK. Can you explain why this is, and what the UK’s interest is really about?

David Wearing: Britain imported a lot of oil from the Middle East during the post-war years, but this tailed off significantly from the 1970s as North Sea oil came on stream. At this point, we import a little more than we export, and only about 3% of our imports come from Saudi Arabia, less from the other Gulf states. However, gas is an important part of the UK’s energy mix, and imports from Qatar comprise about 13% of our gas consumption.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0