GCC and punishment

From comrade Bassam:  " Upon closer examination, the forms and modes of violence that proliferate in the GCC countries constitute another kind of authoritarian edifice that escapes, overcomes, or buys out scrutiny in various ways. Enmeshed as these economies are in world markets, and entrenched in networks that bring together some of the most powerful states on earth, GCC regimes can violate the most basic rights of their citizen-subjects with impunity. They possess sufficient financial and military power to placate, coopt, buy-off, and/or stall—though not indefinitely—a growing local opposition and an impending fall. Although a serious setback is not within sight, such harsh measures in the face of dissent—whether in the form of a poem, a tweet, a film, or organized, peaceful civil disobedience—speak both of the shape of things to come and the growing movement against various forms of exploitation. Perhaps the elephant in the room remains the ticking bomb of the severely exploited labor force. The political economy of crushing dissent and the growing economy at the expense of, in good measure, cheap and abused labor, are not disconnected. The effects of an ever-increasing police-state-like behavior may just help connect the dots, sooner than anticipated."