Tribalism and Political Power in the Gulf

Tribalism and Political Power in the Gulf PDF Author: Courtney Freer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838606092
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
Gulf societies are often described as being intensely tribal. However, in discussions of state building and national identity, the role of tribalism and tribal identity is often overlooked. This book analyses the political role of tribes in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE aiming to understand the degree to which tribes hinder or advance popular participation in government and to what extent they exert domestic political power. The research traces the historical relationship between ruling elites and nomadic tribes, and, by constructing political histories of these states and analysing the role of tribes in domestic political life and social hierarchies, reveals how they serve as major political actors in the Gulf. A key focus of the book is understanding the extent to which societies in the Gulf have become 're-bedouinised' in the modern era and how this has shaped these states' political processes and institutions. The book explores the roles that tribes play in the development of “progressive” citizenship regimes and policymaking today, and how they are likely to be influential in the future within rentier environments.

Tribalism and Political Power in the Gulf

Tribalism and Political Power in the Gulf PDF Author: Courtney Freer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838606092
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
Gulf societies are often described as being intensely tribal. However, in discussions of state building and national identity, the role of tribalism and tribal identity is often overlooked. This book analyses the political role of tribes in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE aiming to understand the degree to which tribes hinder or advance popular participation in government and to what extent they exert domestic political power. The research traces the historical relationship between ruling elites and nomadic tribes, and, by constructing political histories of these states and analysing the role of tribes in domestic political life and social hierarchies, reveals how they serve as major political actors in the Gulf. A key focus of the book is understanding the extent to which societies in the Gulf have become 're-bedouinised' in the modern era and how this has shaped these states' political processes and institutions. The book explores the roles that tribes play in the development of “progressive” citizenship regimes and policymaking today, and how they are likely to be influential in the future within rentier environments.

Rentier Islamism

Rentier Islamism PDF Author: Courtney Freer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190862017
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
While scholars have long looked at the role of political Islam in the Middle East, it has been assumed that domestic politics in the wealthy monarchical states of the Arabian Gulf, so-called "rentier states" where taxes are very low and oil wealth subsidizes the needs of citizens, are largely unaffected by such movements. However, the long accepted rentier theory has been shortsighted in overlooking the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the super-rentiers of Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. While rentier state theory assumes that citizens of such states will form opposition blocs only when their stake in rent income is threatened, this book demonstrates that ideology, rather than rent, have motivated the formation of independent Islamist movements in the wealthiest states of the region. In the monarchical systems of Qatar and the UAE, Islamist groups do not have the opportunity to compete for power and therefore cannot use the ballot box to gain popularity or influence political life, as they do elsewhere in the Middle East. But, as this book points out, the division between the social and political sectors is often blurred in the socially conservative states of the Gulf, as political actors operate through channels that are not institutionalized. Simply because politics is underinstitutionalized in such states does not mean that it is underdeveloped; the informal realm holds considerable political capital. As such, the book argues that Brotherhood movements have managed to use the links between the social (i.e. informal personal networks) and political (i.e. government institutions) to gain influence in policymaking in such states.Using contemporary history and original empirical research, Courtney Freer updates traditional rentier state theory and argues that political Islam serves as a prominent voice and tool to promote more strictly political, and often populist or reformist, views supported by many Gulf citizens.

Oil Monarchies

Oil Monarchies PDF Author: F. Gregory Gause
Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations
ISBN: 9780876091517
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book Here

Book Description
This timely book demystifies the politics of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman, and focuses on the new pressures that have emerged since the Gulf War. Gause illuminates the foreign policy tightrope these states walk in the Middle East: self-defense is problematic, regional pressures translate directly into the domestic arena, and relations with the United States cause as well as solve many problems. Gause examines the interplay of Islamic fundamentalism, tribalism, and, most importantly, oil wealth that has determined the power structure of the Gulf monarchies. He shows what influences really drive politics in the Middle East as well as how U.S. foreign policy must respond to them in order to forge more meaningful ties with each country and preserve the stability of a fragile region that is vital to U.S. interests.

Tribal Modern

Tribal Modern PDF Author: Miriam Cooke
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520957261
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the 1970s, one of the most torrid and forbidding regions in the world burst on to the international stage. The discovery and subsequent exploitation of oil allowed tribal rulers of the U.A.E, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait to dream big. How could fishermen, pearl divers and pastoral nomads catch up with the rest of the modernized world? Even today, society is skeptical about the clash between the modern and the archaic in the Gulf. But could tribal and modern be intertwined rather than mutually exclusive? Exploring everything from fantasy architecture to neo-tribal sports and from Emirati dress codes to neo-Bedouin poetry contests, Tribal Modern explodes the idea that the tribal is primitive and argues instead that it is an elite, exclusive, racist, and modern instrument for branding new nations and shaping Gulf citizenship and identity—an image used for projecting prestige at home and power abroad.

Cold War in the Islamic World

Cold War in the Islamic World PDF Author: Dilip Hiro
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190050330
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 569

Get Book Here

Book Description
For four decades Saudi Arabia and Iran have vied for influence in the Muslim world. At the heart of this ongoing Cold War between Riyadh and Tehran lie the Sunni-Shia divide, and the two countries' intertwined histories. Saudis see this as a conflict between Sunni and Shia; Iran's ruling clerics view it as one between their own Islamic Republic and an illegitimate monarchy. This foundational schism has played out in a geopolitical competition for dominance in the region: Iran has expanded its influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia's hyperactive crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, has intervened in Yemen, isolated Qatar and destabilized Lebanon. Dilip Hiro examines the toxic rivalry between the two countries, tracing its roots and asking whether this Islamic Cold War is likely to end any time soon.

The International Relations of the Persian Gulf

The International Relations of the Persian Gulf PDF Author: F. Gregory Gause, III
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107469163
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 367

Get Book Here

Book Description
Gregory Gause's masterful book is the first to offer a comprehensive account of the international politics in the Persian Gulf across nearly four decades. The story begins in 1971 when Great Britain ended its protectorate relations with the smaller states of the lower Gulf. It traces developments in the region from the oil 'revolution' of 1973–4 through the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf war of 1990–1 to the toppling of Saddam Hussein in the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, bringing the story of Gulf regional politics up to 2008. The book highlights transnational identity issues, regime security and the politics of the world oil market, and charts the changing mix of interests and ambitions driving American policy. The author brings his experience as a scholar and commentator on the Gulf to this riveting account of one of the most politically volatile regions on earth.

The Red and the Blue

The Red and the Blue PDF Author: Steve Kornacki
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062438999
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 610

Get Book Here

Book Description
From MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki, a lively and sweeping history of the birth of political tribalism in the 1990s—one that brings critical new understanding to our current political landscape from Clinton to Trump In The Red and the Blue, cable news star and acclaimed journalist Steve Kornacki follows the twin paths of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, two larger-than-life politicians who exploited the weakened structure of their respective parties to attain the highest offices. For Clinton, that meant contorting himself around the various factions of the Democratic party to win the presidency. Gingrich employed a scorched-earth strategy to upend the permanent Republican minority in the House, making him Speaker. The Clinton/Gingrich battles were bare-knuckled brawls that brought about massive policy shifts and high-stakes showdowns—their collisions had far-reaching political consequences. But the ’90s were not just about them. Kornacki writes about Mario Cuomo’s stubborn presence around Clinton’s 1992 campaign; Hillary Clinton’s star turn during the 1998 midterms, seeding the idea for her own candidacy; Ross Perot’s wild run in 1992 that inspired him to launch the Reform Party, giving Donald Trump his first taste of electoral politics in 1999; and many others. With novelistic prose and a clear sense of history, Steve Kornacki masterfully weaves together the various elements of this rambunctious and hugely impactful era in American history, whose effects set the stage for our current political landscape.

Persian Gulf States

Persian Gulf States PDF Author: Library of Congress. Federal Research Division
Publisher: Division
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Get Book Here

Book Description
Research completed January 1993.

Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism

Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism PDF Author: Paul James
Publisher: Pine Forge Press
ISBN: 1446230546
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book Here

Book Description
`Paul James has written a magnificent account of the world′s current condition, one that highlights the complexities and contradictions with which people, communities, and nations must contend and that does so in a compelling and creative style. Stressing the interaction between global and local forces, his writing style is lively and compelling as well as peppered with a wide range of citations, from Woman′s Day to the Cambodian Daily (on the same page!)′ - James N Rosenau, University Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism establishes a new basis for understanding the changing nature of polity and community and offers unprecedented attention to these dominant trends. Paul James charts the contradictions and tensions we all encounter in an era of increasing globalization, from genocide and terrorism to television and finance capital. Globalism is treated as an uneven and layered process of spatial expansion, not simply one of disorder, fragmentation or rupture. Nor is it simply a force of homogenization. Nationalism is taken seriously as a continuing and important formation of contemporary identity and politics. James rewrites the modernism theories of the nation-state without devolving into the postmodernist assertion that all is invention or surface gloss. Tribalism is given the attention it has long warranted and is analyzed as a continuing and changing formation of social life, from the villages of Rwanda to the cities of the West. Theoretically adept and powerfully argued, this is the first comprehensive analysis that brings these crucial themes of contemporary life together.

Kuwait and Al-Sabah

Kuwait and Al-Sabah PDF Author: Rivka Azoulay
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 183860507X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 454

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Emirate of Kuwait hardly resembles the city-State it was at the start of the 20th century. The discovery of oil in 1938 rapidly transformed the tiny tribal sheikhdom of the Al-Sabah into a modern oil-producing state where, by the early 1980s, citizens were enjoying one of the highest standards of living in the world. While much has been written on the reasons why and how the Al-Sabah became a ruling dynasty, little is known about the nature of their authority and its relationship to Kuwait's social structure. Rivka Azoulay shows how despite the rapidity of change in the oil-rich, family-run emirate, it is the pre-oil dynamics of social and political life that dictate how society operates. The author shows that Kuwait's ambitious diversification plans to reduce oil-dependence by 2035 require a renegotiation of the regime's pact with society, which threatens the pre-oil alliances upon which the Al-Sabah's regime has been built.