Saudi Arabia And The Gulf Arab States Today

Familiarizes readers with the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. Includes articles on the land, people, religion, culture and traditions, institutions, economy, and much more.

Familiarizes readers with the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. Includes articles on the land, people, religion, culture and traditions, institutions, economy, and much more.

This extremely timely and helpful ready reference will familiarize all students and readers with the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. These states are bound by the desert culture, the Gulf, new oil economy, and Islam, to name some commonalities. Most Americans know something about the region, such as oases, dates, camels, oil, Bedouin tribes, and the legends of Lawrence of Arabia to Osama bin Laden. Islamic concepts and practices are still unfamiliar. On one extreme, Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, has been largely closed off to Western tourists. On the other extreme, Dubai courts tourist dollars as it constructs modern architectural showcases. This is the first A-Z encyclopedia to focus on the Gulf, illuminating the land, people, religion, culture and traditions, institutions, economy, and much more for general readers. The more than 200 essay entries have a current focus with historical context as necessary. The breadth of coverage means that this resource will be of use for a wide range of researchers and browsers. Besides individual entries on each state, major cities and regions are also profiled. The natural environment and human adaptation to it receives significant space. Islamic customs and rules and various interpretations are clearly explained. Essays on topics such as key public figures, institutions, major events, politics, and state structures—some based on sources often not available in English—make this two-volume set the first-choice resource for accurate information. Suggestions for further reading accompany most entries; a chronology, selected bibliography, and photos also complement the text.

This extremely timely and helpful ready reference will familiarize all students and readers with the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. These states are bound by the desert culture, the Gulf, new oil economy, and Islam, to name some commonalities. Most Americans know something about the region, such as oases, dates, camels, oil, Bedouin tribes, and the legends of Lawrence of Arabia to Osama bin Laden. Islamic concepts and practices are still unfamiliar. On one extreme, Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, has been largely closed off to Western tourists. On the other extreme, Dubai courts tourist dollars as it constructs modern architectural showcases. This is the first A-Z encyclopedia to focus on the Gulf, illuminating the land, people, religion, culture and traditions, institutions, economy, and much more for general readers. The more than 200 essay entries have a current focus with historical context as necessary. The breadth of coverage means that this resource will be of use for a wide range of researchers and browsers. Besides individual entries on each state, major cities and regions are also profiled. The natural environment and human adaptation to it receives significant space. Islamic customs and rules and various interpretations are clearly explained. Essays on topics such as key public figures, institutions, major events, politics, and state structures--some based on sources often not available in English--make this two-volume set the first-choice resource for accurate information. Suggestions for further reading accompany most entries; a chronology, selected bibliography, and photos also complement the text.

Thoroughly expanded and updated, this guide covers bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The book features 56 detailed maps, accommodation and restaurant options for all budgets, comprehensive political and historical notes, and invaluable information for travel in post-war Kuwait. Tips are given on buying Bedouin silver and Omani daggers.

The discovery of oil in the Gulf revolutionised its social and economic relationship with the West. This book provides a broad overview of foreign policy imperatives, an examination of three of the most important issues - the Iran-Iraq war, OPEC, socio-political extremism - and finally a closer inspection of three of the key players in that area: Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

This book, first published in 1988, compiles selected contributions to a symposium on ‘The Gulf and the Arab World’ held by the Centre for Arab Gulf Studies at Exeter University, UK, in July 1986. The historical perspective was considered to be a prerequisite for focusing on modern developments, and two chapters are devoted to the coming of both the Arabs and Islam to the Gulf, and a further chapter examines the role of the Ottoman Empire in the region. The remaining chapters concentrate on recent interaction under the broad headings of political and socio-political affairs, demographic aspects, financial interchange and questions of security. A large part of the book is devoted to detailed analysis of the main factor in Arab Gulf/Arab world relations: the huge flow, in one direction, of Arab migratory manpower and, in the reverse direction, of Gulf financing and workers’ remittances.