The Evolution of National Boundaries in the Southeastern Arabian Peninsula: 1934-1955. (Volumes I and II) (Buraimi, Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman).

Abstract

The formation of the Arabian peninsula in the twentieth century has involved developments of many different kinds; one of the more complex has been the definition of Saudi Arabia's southeastern boundaries. The countries now known as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman were regarded by the British as being in the British sphere. Through major policy efforts Britain attempted to retain control over their boundaries ( and thus the states) in the period after the discovery of oil made the inl and areas of Arabia so important. From 1934 to 1955 Saudi Arabia and Britain explored various ways to settle the boundaries, never with success. Britain walked out of arbitration in 1955 (one day after the proceedings began), and the border dispute (often called after the Oasis of Buraimi, a focus of attention in the controversy) was not resolved until after Britain withdrew from the Gulf region in 1971. The repeated attempts to settle the matter cast light not only on later stages of British colonialism and on Saudi state formation, but also on the emergence of the United States and the oil companies as actors on the Middle Eastern scene. Available documention is both extensive and revealing, and the topic is well defined enough to reveal interesting diplomatic shifts, as Britain sought to control state-formation in the peninsula by regulating boundaries.Ph.D.Middle Eastern historyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161355/1/8712065.pd