Omar’s view
Gulf countries used to deliver foreign aid discreetly, but have recently adopted the Western-inspired practice of transparently documenting financial support to less fortunate nations. For strategic and moral reasons, they should consider returning to their roots, potentially setting an example for Western countries to emulate.
Compared to European countries, Gulf governments are relatively young, meaning that many processes taken for granted in Paris, Berlin, and London are still developing. For example, while the positive convention of publishing white papers to inform stakeholders of government intentions has been a common feature in Europe for decades, it is only recently that some Gulf countries have adopted this practice.
However, one area where Gulf governments differ and which cannot be attributed to their nascence is the discreetness of foreign aid.
In Western countries, external financial assistance is publicly declared, partly to ensure transparency, as citizens have a right to know how civil servants are deploying tax revenue. Additionally, as Western countries have secularized, the prestige of being publicly associated with philanthropy has become an important motivator for acts of charity, evident in the naming of buildings, classrooms, and hospitals after wealthy donors.
In Gulf countries, foreign aid undoubtedly serves foreign policy interests, but it is also compelled by Islam. Both individuals and states must provide assistance to relatives and neighbors in times of difficulty, with discretion playing a crucial role. Islam encourages anonymity in giving to protect the dignity of recipients who may otherwise feel their self-esteem and image are compromised. This deep-seated cultural predisposition led Gulf countries — when they became wealthy — to deliver significant volumes of foreign aid discreetly.
Historically, Gulf donations have been anonymous, avoiding the ghastly Western phenomenon of thrusting cameras and microphones in front of the recipients to demand expressions of gratitude. While Islam grants an exception when the act of publicizing a donation helps encourage others to contribute, this rarely applies to foreign aid, when it is clear who needs help.
In the past decade, however, this approach has become less common across the Gulf.
Aid packages to Gaza and Lebanon, Pakistan and Sudan, are now regularly publicized. Much of the impetus to emulate the Western model began during the Arab Spring, when Gulf countries were smeared in global media for supposedly refusing to accept refugees from various civil wars. As a regular visitor to Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, I remember being puzzled by the claims: The mosque I frequented, for example, had numerous non-Gulf Arabs fleeing conflicts, living with their families, and receiving access to health and education services.
The kingdom’s foreign minister at the time, Adil Al-Jubayr, explained in a press conference that Saudi Arabia had accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees, but had done so discreetly in accordance with Islamic prescriptions. I contrasted this with what I perceived to be the distasteful treatment of refugees arriving in Western countries, where cameras awaited exhausted families, expecting them to express joy that they were to be afforded this opportunity.
The recent embrace of the Western convention may have been an attempt to preempt media pressure, but it risks undermining an aspect of Gulf culture and policy that has fostered its soft power. With their rising economic stature and success in mediating conflicts where the West has faltered, Gulf countries are well-positioned to impose their model of foreign aid — one that preserves the dignity of recipients and wins their trust and respect.
Equipped with this newfound self-confidence, Gulf countries should consider turning the tables and teaching the West how to deliver foreign aid in a dignified, respectful manner. Rather than acquiescing to foreign media pressure, they should consider convincing the world that what really needs to be discouraged is attention-seeking public philanthropy.
Omar Al-Ubaydli (@omareconomics) is an affiliated associate professor of economics at George Mason University, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center in Washington, DC, and a contributor to Semafor.