Political efficiency of capital accumulation as an indicator of national power: The case of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar

This thesis examines the political effectiveness of capital power of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, which accumulated large amounts of capital thanks to exporting of their natural resources. It is a known fact that not only Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have got a significant income from oil revenues since the mid-1970s, but also Qatar, which has become rich due to the natural gas exports in the 2000s, have been investing in many countries. In addition, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been providing financial aid to many countries especially to regional countries for many years, while Qatar has been doing in recent years. The study mainly focuses on whether these capital forces have any effects in the rise of those countries influence both in the international arena and in their regions since the 2000s. In this regard, the thesis has two main research questions. First one is that do those states have any agenda at using those capital powers as a political tool? The second question is that if it is so, does this capital which is utilized in host countries through the investments and aids, have any positive effects on their agenda into the practice? The thesis seeks to answering to those questions by means of neo-liberal international relations theory's approach to power elements and economic power tools.