Naming The Persian Gulf

The first major study of the origin of the Gulf naming dispute and its evolution over millennia to the present.

Exploring the history of the Persian Gulf from ancient times until the present day, leading authorities treat the internal history of the region and describe the role outsiders have played there. The book focuses on the unity and identity of Gulf society and how the Gulf historically has been part of a cosmopolitan Indian Ocean world.

The Persian (or Arab) Gulf countries produce about 30 per cent of the planet's oil, and keep in the ground around 55 per cent of its crude oil reserves, hence the stability of the region's autocratic regimes is vital to the world's economic and political future. Yet paradoxically, despite its reputation as the most traditional of regions, the Persian Gulf holds out great promise to those who support political liberalization. But is political liberalization in the region part of an inexorable drive toward democratization - or simply a means for autocratic regimes to consolidate and legitimize their rule? This book sheds new light on this fascinating trend, revealing varying levels of commitment to reform across eight Gulf states as they respond to the challenges of increased wealth and education levels, a developing middle class, external actors, and competing social and political groups.

This volume, although not an integrated synthesis, treats most aspects of Holocene sedimenta tion and diagenesis in the Persian Gulf, grouping 22 contributions under a single cover and in one language. Because these sediments and diagenetic minerals are comparable to those existing in many ancient sedimentary basins, their appraisal should be of value to the enlarging group of workers who interpret ancient sedimentary rocks. The essential morphological, climatic and oceanographic factors determining Holocene sedimen tation and diagenesis in the Persian Gulf are summarized in the introductory article by PURSER and SEIBOLD. These environmental controls and the overall morphology of the Persian Gulf have much in common with Shark Bay, Western Australia, described by LOGAN et al. (1970). On the other hand, the Persian Gulf is markedly different from the better known Florida and Bahamian prov inces; the floor of the Persian Gulf is gently inclined from continental shoreline to bathymetric axis (80-100 m); the Bahamian province, on the other hand, is horizontal and extremely shallow (2-10 m), with very sharply defined shelf edges surrounded by deep oceanic waters. These contrast ing architectural styles are related to different tectonic frames.

Research completed January 1993.

The contradictory trends of the 'post-Arab Spring' landscape form both the backdrop to, and the focus of, this volume on the changing security dynamics of the Persian Gulf, defined as the six GCC states plus Iraq and Iran. The political and economic upheaval triggered by the uprisings of 2011, and the rapid emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2014, have underscored the vulnerability of regional states to an intersection of domestic pressures and external shocks. The initial phase of the uprisings has given way to a series of messy and uncertain transitions that have left societies deeply fractured and ignited violence both within and across states. The bulk of the protests, with the notable exception of Bahrain, occurred outside the Gulf region, but Persian Gulf states were at the forefront of the political, economic, and security response across the Middle East. This volume provides a timely and comparative study of how security in the Persian Gulf has evolved and adapted to the growing uncertainty of the post-2011 regional landscape.

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