Global Oil and the Middle East Economic Outlook

Originally published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Participants: Katherine Wilkens, Uri Dadush, Deborah Gordon, Masood Ahmed

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The steady decline of global oil prices since June 2014 is shifting economic, political, and strategic calculations of key Middle East actors, and adding a new element of uncertainty at a time of increased regional conflict and polarization. Carnegie hosted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss the 2015 update of the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and North Africa. The conversation focused on the impact of both lower oil prices and slower demand growth on the region in the year ahead.

Masood Ahmed, along with Carnegie’s Uri Dadush and Deborah Gordon, discussed the impact of fluctuating oil prices on regional economies, and the overall outlook for global markets and international economic relations. Carnegie’s Katherine Wilkens moderated.

Masood Ahmed

Masood Ahmed is director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the IMF. Before taking up this position, Ahmed was the director of the External Relations Department in the IMF, and Ahmed served as director general for policy and international development at the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Uri B. Dadush

Uri B. Dadush is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and president and founder of Economic Policy International, LLC. He is also visiting fellow at the OCP Policy Center in Rabat, Morocco.

Deborah Gordon

Deborah Gordon is director of Carnegie’s Energy and Climate Program, where her research focuses on oil and climate change issues in North America and globally. Gordon has managed an active energy and environmental consulting practice, taught at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and directed the Energy Policy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Katherine Wilkens

Katherine Wilkens is the deputy director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Over the last two decades, she has held a number of senior positions in the U.S. government and nonprofit sector.