This edited volume contributes a novel understanding of the past, present, and future of higher education across the six countries which make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Awad Ibrahim is Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada.

Osman Z. Barnawi is Professor at the Royal Commission Colleges and Institutes, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: The Pulse of Higher Education in the Arabian Gulf

Awad Ibrahim and Osman Z. Barnawi

Part 1: Critical Historical Archaeology of Higher Education in the GCC

1. Seven Decades of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: A Foucauldian Genealogy

Abdullah Alshakhi

2. The History of Higher Education in Kuwait

Abbas Al-Shammari

3. A Historical Archaeology of Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman: A Critical Social and Education Policy Perspective

Ali M. Al-Issa and Noor Al-Najjar

4. History of Higher Education in Qatar: A Genealogy

Wafaa Morsy and Awad Ibrahim

5. The Coming of Age in UAE Higher Education: The March of the Young Nation to a Postmodern Era

Negmeldin Omer Alsheikh

6. Higher Education in Bahrain: Current Trends, Successes, Challenges and Future Possibilities

Paul MacLeod

Part 2: Higher Education in the Arabian Gulf Region Today

7. Development of Higher Education in Bahrain

Aizhan Shomotova and Tatiana Karabchuk

8. Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: A Vehicle for Global Promotion and Advancement

Sulaiman Jenkins

9. Development of the Higher Education in the UAE: Challenges and Current Achievements

Aizhan Shomotova and Tatiana Karabchuk

10. Negotiating between Cultural and Academic Values: Undergraduate Education Choices and Divisions in the State of Qatar

Sara Hillman

11. Development of the Higher Education System in Kuwait

Aizhan Shomotova and Tatiana Karabchuk

12. Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman Today

Fatma Al Kaf and Ali M. Al-Issa

Part 3: Comparing, Contrasting and Projecting a Future of Higher Education in the Arabian Gulf

13. Epilogue: The Pulse of the Development of Higher Education across the Gulf Countries in the Era of Neoliberalism: Conclusion, Limitations and Future Prospects

Habib Bouagada