The Emergence of the Gulf States: Studies in Modern History

Description

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2017 The Emergence of the Gulf States covers the history of the Gulf from the 18th century to the late 20th century. Employing a broad perspective, the volume brings together experts in the field to consider the region's political, economic and social development. The contributions address key themes including the impact of early history, religious movements, social structures, identity and language, imperialism, 20th-century economic transformation and relations with the wider Indian Ocean and Arab world. The work as a whole provides a new interpretive approach based on new research coupled with extensive reviews of the relevant literature. It offers a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the area and sets a new standard for the future scholarship and understanding of this vital region.

J. E. Peterson is affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, USA. He has been a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (Philadelphia) and the Middle East Institute (Washington, D.C.), and an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.). Until 1999, he served as the Historian of the Sultan's Armed Forces in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defence in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, and spent 2000-2001 at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

A pioneering work ... Anyone who wants to understand the modern Gulf should read and re-read the work and reflect on it. * Asian Affairs * This collection of 11 papers on Saudi Arabia and the five Persian Gulf states that emerged from British rule between 1961 and 1971-Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates-represents an excellent, state-of-the-art overview of their history up until independence. All essays are by leading scholars, and each offers a wealth of information on such topics as historical trade structures, mutual links, international relations, social formation, tribal identity, economic transformation, and the role of oil in the region's development. To this reviewer, two chapters stand out: one, by the editor, offers a lucid discussion of the impact of imperialism on the Gulf; the other, by Clive Holes, examines the complex issue of language and dialect, folklore, and dress of the region's peoples. Each chapter ends with a useful, up-to-date bibliographical essay of English-language scholarship. A rich volume that belongs in every research library. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * CHOICE *