BBC News - Gulf states face hard economic truth about subsidies

The security and stability of the six-member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) rests on a basic assumption.

Their governments, run by royal families, have a social contract with the people that in its simplest terms effectively says: "In return for your acquiescence we will provide health, education, water, energy and other services virtually free."

But what happens if the governments are no longer able to fulfil their side of the contract?

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