Dr. Christopher M. Davidson
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Persian Gulf politics, socio-economic development, investments, etc.
BIOGRAPHY
Christopher read Modern History at King's College, University of Cambridge, before taking his M.Litt and PhD degrees in Middle East
Politics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is currently a reader in Middle East Politics at the School of Government and
International Affairs, Durham University, in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Durham he was an assistant professor in Political Science
at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. In 2009 he was a visiting associate professor at the Graduate School of Asian and African
Studies, Kyoto University, in Japan. Since 2007 he has been a fellow of the UK's Higher Education Academy.
His primary research interest is the politics and socio-economic development of the Persian Gulf monarchies. He has secondary research
interests in the increasing political and economic ties between the Gulf and other parts of Asia, and in the politics and development of other
parts of the Middle East, especially Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. His Gulf expertise is listed by the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations
programme (the AoC's home page is here); Middle East Desk (in New York); and the European Centre for International Affairs (in Brussels).
Since 2009 he has been co-editor (with Dirk Vandewalle, Dartmouth College) of the book series Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf, co-
published by Columbia University Press and Hurst & Co. He is the author of four single authored books and two edited books, the most
recent of which will be published in spring 2011 as an introductory textbook on Gulf politics and economics for undergraduate and
postgraduate students.
His most cited work is probably Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success, which was first published in spring
2008 by Columbia University Press and Hurst & Co. With reviews, inter alia, in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Los
Angeles Times, it was credited with predicting aspects of the Dubai crash, and in 2008 was judged one of the books of the year by both the
London Evening Standard and the New Statesman. Its distribution in the United Arab Emirates was a subject of controversy, as reported
by the Times Higher Education and the Guardian. Eventually, after an 8 month delay it was released in December 2008 in the UAE and
went on to become the second best selling non-fiction book of 2009.
He has appeared on most major television and radio news bulletins, including the BBC, CNN, Sky, ABC, Al-Jazeera, Japan's NHK,
Bloomberg, ITV, Iran's Press TV, Reuters TV, and NPR. He has also been a guest on a number of prime time current affairs shows including
the BBC's Newsnight, Sky's Jeff Randall Show, CNN's Connect the World, Radio 4's Today and PM shows, NPR's All Things Considered,
NHK's Asian Voices, and Al-Jazeera's Riz Khan, Counting the Cost, and Empire shows.
He has been interviewed and his work cited by the leading international newspapers and the Arabic press. His opinion editorials have
appeared in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, BBC Online, and the Index on Censorship. He also writes for Al-
Akhbar newspaper (in Beirut), with his article 'انهيار دبي الكبي ' / 'The Great Dubai Crash' being published in September 2009, two months
before the Dubai crash.
Since October 2010 he has published Gulf Stream - a weekly blog hosted by London's Current Intelligence magazine. An RSS feed is
available. He is also a regular contributor to OpenDemocracy and maintains a Twitter account.
Christopher read Modern History at King's College, University of Cambridge, before taking his M.Litt and PhD degrees in Middle East
Politics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is currently a reader in Middle East Politics at the School of Government and
International Affairs, Durham University, in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Durham he was an assistant professor in Political Science
at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. In 2009 he was a visiting associate professor at the Graduate School of Asian and African
Studies, Kyoto University, in Japan. Since 2007 he has been a fellow of the UK's Higher Education Academy.
His primary research interest is the politics and socio-economic development of the Persian Gulf monarchies. He has secondary research
interests in the increasing political and economic ties between the Gulf and other parts of Asia, and in the politics and development of other
parts of the Middle East, especially Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. His Gulf expertise is listed by the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations
programme (the AoC's home page is here); Middle East Desk (in New York); and the European Centre for International Affairs (in Brussels).
Since 2009 he has been co-editor (with Dirk Vandewalle, Dartmouth College) of the book series Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf, co-
published by Columbia University Press and Hurst & Co. He is the author of four single authored books and two edited books, the most
recent of which will be published in spring 2011 as an introductory textbook on Gulf politics and economics for undergraduate and
postgraduate students.
His most cited work is probably Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success, which was first published in spring
2008 by Columbia University Press and Hurst & Co. With reviews, inter alia, in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Los
Angeles Times, it was credited with predicting aspects of the Dubai crash, and in 2008 was judged one of the books of the year by both the
London Evening Standard and the New Statesman. Its distribution in the United Arab Emirates was a subject of controversy, as reported
by the Times Higher Education and the Guardian. Eventually, after an 8 month delay it was released in December 2008 in the UAE and
went on to become the second best selling non-fiction book of 2009.
He has appeared on most major television and radio news bulletins, including the BBC, CNN, Sky, ABC, Al-Jazeera, Japan's NHK,
Bloomberg, ITV, Iran's Press TV, Reuters TV, and NPR. He has also been a guest on a number of prime time current affairs shows including
the BBC's Newsnight, Sky's Jeff Randall Show, CNN's Connect the World, Radio 4's Today and PM shows, NPR's All Things Considered,
NHK's Asian Voices, and Al-Jazeera's Riz Khan, Counting the Cost, and Empire shows.
He has been interviewed and his work cited by the leading international newspapers and the Arabic press. His opinion editorials have
appeared in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, BBC Online, and the Index on Censorship. He also writes for Al-
Akhbar newspaper (in Beirut), with his article 'انهيار دبي الكبي ' / 'The Great Dubai Crash' being published in September 2009, two months
before the Dubai crash.
Since October 2010 he has published Gulf Stream - a weekly blog hosted by London's Current Intelligence magazine. An RSS feed is
available. He is also a regular contributor to OpenDemocracy and maintains a Twitter account.