CHAPTER 10 THE HUB -- CONCLUSION (IN) CAPACITATED -- Survivors -- Capacity, Not Legitimacy -- Energy Saver -- Integrate -- Invested -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- ILLUSTRATION CREDITS -- INDEX

An expert in Arab Gulf politics offers a revealing analysis of the region’s stunning rise to global power and the challenges it confronts today. Once just sleepy desert sheikdoms, the Arab Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait now exert unprecedented influence on international affairs—the result of their almost unimaginable riches in oil and gas. In this accessible study, Gulf politics expert Rory Miller examines the achievements of these countries since the 1973 global oil crisis. He also investigates how the shrewd Arab Gulf rulers who have overcome crisis after crisis meet the unpredictable future. The Arab Gulf region has become a global hub for travel, tourism, sports, culture, trade, and finance. But can the autocratic regimes maintain stability at home and influence abroad as they deal with the demands of social and democratic reform? Miller considers an array of factors—Islamism, terrorism, the Arab Spring, volatile oil prices, global power dynamics, and others—to assess the region’s future possibilities.

Oil and water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil’s abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom’s ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it was through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged. The central government’s power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution. Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi state. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert.

How are authority and influence accumulated and wielded across the six Gulf states? Mixing theoretical and empirical insights, and utilising both historical and contemporary examples, this book offers a comparative analysis of military, political, economic and religious power in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as of the power of narrative. While many volumes examine each of these states individually, Centers of Power in the Arab Gulf States assesses the Arabian Peninsula as a whole, filling a significant gap in the literature. It surveys the myriad factors which have influenced the emergence of these states, societies and political economies, which have become increasingly assertive actors in today's global order. Exploring domestic, regional and transnational pressures, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen sheds light on the varying concepts of power and authority, the different forms they take, the ways they are projected, and the practical constraints on their exercise. From whom does power derive? Is it something different from influence and ambition? Is decision-making top-down or bottom-up, or a mixture of both? From bureaucrats to scholars, and from royals to opposition figures, Coates Ulrichsen uncovers the power relations shaping the Gulf today.

This book examines some of the driving forces of change in the Middle East and aims to provide a regional outlook. The political and social events of the past years have significantly affected the regional structure across the Middle East, evident in socio-economic systems, security framework and the balance of power across the area. Each chapter focuses on one of the driving forces of change, including the Iran Nuclear Deal, the role of external powers, energy and its political and economic role in the region, the regional balance of power struggle amongst the key regional players and the socio-economic challenges across the region.

The 2010s were a decade of transformation and conflict in the Middle East, bookended by the Arab Uprisings and the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout this time, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar--the three Arab states with the most ambitious regional policies--declared stability to be their main objective. Yet, rather than being a common denominator, this seemingly shared goal in fact obscured differences between their often-competing agendas. These three Gulf monarchies all agreed that the Middle East had descended into unprecedented and dangerous instability following the Arab Uprisings. But their assessments diverged on what characterized and drove the unrest. This led each country to formulate different--and at times contradictory--views of how politics should be organized in and between states in the region, and what role external powers should play to build a stable new order. With no universally accepted definition of stability, this book develops an original analytical framework linking this concept to that of order, and provides a useful lens through which to understand foreign policy in the Gulf. While governments often frame their relations with other states by evoking a joint commitment to stability, Tobias Borck shows that this does not, in itself, imply strategic alignment.

Oil fuels the global economy and remains a staple of our energy system. Yet, its production and use continue to draw negative criticism, and an increasing number of people want to reduce or eliminate its use altogether. Profits and Power sheds light on how the oil system works, its key players, and the political and geopolitical issues related to its use. Starting in the second half of the nineteenth century, the book traces the fascinating history of how oil production and its sale became the world’s most profitable business. Tracing distinct eras in oil’s past, Profits and Power shows how periods defined by shifts in price often dictated who controlled production, and who enjoyed the often enormous riches oil production generated. David A. Detomasi weaves together politics, geopolitics, and economics to provide a complete picture of how the system really works, and what direction it will take in the future. As the world becomes increasingly aware of the dangers and challenges oil dependency creates, knowledge of this crucial commodity has never been more relevant and critical for humanity’s future. Profits and Power will resonate with anyone interested in, or charged with responding to, our evolving energy future.