The Gulf economy is often explained through oil alone. The complete story is much larger. This in-depth guide explains how Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain converted energy wealth into infrastructure, sovereign capital and new industries—and what their next economic era means for businesses and the world.

For several decades, one of the great achievements of global business was the ability to separate production from proximity. A company in Dubai could buy components from East Asia, machinery from Europe, specialist materials from the United States and services from almost anywhere, while modern logistics made those relationships predictable enough to operate at scale.