Related Papers
Citizenship in the Gulf
2013 •
Jane Kinninmont
On the one hand, numerous Arab commentators, including some Gulf intellectuals, have sought to encapsulate the key demand of the Arab uprisings as ‘a transition from being subjects to being citizens’. This captures a sense of a desired end to perceived passivity and a claim to becoming a different sort of political being, respected and with rights and dignity. On the other hand, Gulf governments have continued to define different de facto tiers of citizenship – determining who is entitled to which levels of economic benefits on the basis of ancestry, who is entitled to vote, whether women can pass citizenship on to their children, and in some cases, even stripping citizenship from dissidents perceived as being disloyal.
The Gulf: Not All That’s Gold Glitters
James M. Dorsey
Gleaming glass skyscrapers, state-of-the-art technology, and wealthy merchant families have replaced the Gulf’s muddy towns and villages populated by traders and pearl fishers that once lacked electricity, running water or modern communications. The region’s modern day projection of a visionary cutting- edge, 21st century urban environment masks however the fact that some things have not changed. Gulf states continue to be ruled by the same families, generation after generation. The families have become what an Emirati regime critic, Yousif Khalifa al-Yousif, termed “an institution of entitlement.”1 Alongside autocrats, the region also remains home to holy warriors and modern-day pirates. The principle of governance that what is good for business is good for the village-turned-nation still guides rulers who rank among the region’s foremost businessmen. If, however, the region’s physical transformation speaks to an almost unitary vision of modernity, its politics tell a very different story, one of deep-seated social conservatism despite concessions in some states to cultural attributes of expatriate communities, resistance to political change, and a clinging to the status quo at whatever price.
Politics and Society in the Gulf States
Toby Matthiesen
This option builds on the core courses of the MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies and seeks to complement the historical knowledge and language skills gained there with a thorough understanding of history, society, and politics of the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula. It will provide an overview of the key factors that shaped the development of the modern Gulf states, in particular since the discovery of oil. The aim is to give students the theoretical and methodological tools to analyse the domestic and foreign policies of the Gulf states in light of a historically grounded understanding of state-society relations. Contents Over the course of the term, we will look at key themes and topics that shaped the history of the modern Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman). Each seminar will have a thematic arch and link and compare developments across the different Gulf States (and at times make cross-references to neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Iran and Yemen). It will explain how highly hetereogeneous populations, characterised by migration, trade and warfare, came to form the citizens of newly independent states by the 1970s. In particular after the oil boom of 1973, these states and their economies were profoundly transformed, leading to the influx of millions of migrant workers. Given that it is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and its role as a regional hegemon and its use of Islam will be a particular focus. The last seminar will look at how the Gulf states have been affected by and have responded to the regional fallouts spurred by the Arab uprisings.
Occasional Paper 18
Society in the Persian Gulf: Before and After Oil
2017 •
Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS)
This essay takes as its focus society in the Persian Gulf over the long term, both before and after oil. In order to understand the transitions society has gone through, it is necessary to review the region’s historical evolution and how society in the Gulf today differs from that of the pre-oil era. The Gulf is presented as a distinct historical region, where a tradition of free movement helped account for the success of its port cities, themselves linked more to the Indian Ocean basin than the Middle East. In the twentieth century, the historic ties that connected the people of the Gulf littoral were curtailed as nationalism became the dominant ideology, and borders and passports were imposed. After oil was discovered and exports began following World War II, the small Gulf shaikhdoms, most of which were under British protection until 1971, experienced a surge in revenues that ushered in the modern era. Newly independent states sought to impose a new identity, manipulate history, and exploit sectarian cleavages to solidify the power of ruling dynasties. The historic cosmopolitanism of the Gulf was ignored by states that privileged the tribal, Bedouin heritage of their leaders. Arabs and Persians, both Sunni and Shi‘a, as well as many other groups have lived with each other in the region for many centuries, during which mutual differences occasionally led to conflict. But the current mistrust, tension, and sense of vulnerability felt by all sides is a product of the modern age.
Headline Series (New York: Foreign Policy Association) nos. 333-334
The Persian Gulf: Tradition and Transformation
2011 •
Lawrence Potter
Transit States: Labour, Migration and Citizenship in the Gulf
2014 •
Abdulhadi Khalaf
Contemporary Gulf Studies
Gulf Cooperation Council Culture and Identities in the New Millennium
2020 •
Nermin Allam
Statelessness in the Gulf: the bidun jinsiiya in Kuwait
Martina Azzalea
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (BJMES)
The Arab Gulf States: Beyond Oil and Islam. Sean Foley
2012 •
Jörg Matthias Determann
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Offshore Citizens: Temporary Status In The Gulf by Noora Lori (Cambridge University Press)
2020 •
Thomas McGee
