Chapter : 1

United Arab Emirates Society

General Information:
1-Ancient Name: Trucial Coast of Oman.
2-1507: Occupied by Portages.
3-1820: Britain occupied the area.
4-1971: Get Independence from Britain.
5-UAE: Consisting of Seven Emirates.
6-Capital: Abu Dhabi.
7-Area: 83,600 Km2.
8-Population: 10,000,000.
9-National People: 11.5%.
10- Expatriates: 88.5%.
The Originality of UAE Society and its Main Characteristics

1- Introduction:
Every individual has his own distinct character which can never
be repeated completely.

The same can be said about each group of people who has their
own distinct characteristics and behavior.

When we study societies we can identify certain features, its

spirit and the social elements of its heritage as we explained in
the previous chapters where we talked about a group of people
forming the structure of the society and settling on a particular
area in a specific time.

Certain relations, values and concepts are expected to be

established. This would give them a special identity to make
distinct from the other societies.

The identity of Emirates Society, for instance, is different from

the French, Chinese or Indian societies.

2-The Environment, Activities and characteristics

of UAE Society:

Before the discovery of oil, the Emirates Society used to be

Nomadic and Maritime Society associated with the desert and
the sea.
The two environments had an obvious effect on the formation of
its nature, social and cultural character.
We can say that the Emirates Society was affected by three
environments:

A- The desert environment.

B- The Maritime environment.
C- The industrial environment.
Now we will look into the details of these environments in the
following way:
A- The desert environment.
Desert land covers one third of Emirates, inhabited by a
number of people of Emirates who are torn between Nomadic
life on one hand, and the desire to settle down on the other ,
according to circumstances which enforce one or the other based
on availability of resources especially water.

In this study of the Nomadic tribes in Emirates, Lowry Moor

explains that the area where the tribe settles determines the type
of trade they practice.

If the tribe was dispersed different areas such as oases or coastal

centers or open desert, they would take on farming, fishing or
grazing.
The nomadic phenomenon in Emirates is about to be extinct
as the government policy has been taken to settle them since the
discovery of oil and the beginnings of the growth projects.
A long-term ambitious plan was carried out to settle the
Bedouins by establishing residential complexes with complete
services and facilities.

So that we need to assert that settling the Bedouins is one of the

most distinct modern social characteristics in the UAE.

The citizens of the Emirates in most cases belong to Nomadic

tribes originally coming from the desert according to the
following way;

Categorization of the Bedouins of Emirates:

We can categorize Bedouins in Emirates according to the degree

of settlement each group does:

1-Migrant Bedouins:(Nomadic)
They keep moving from one place to another all year. They
occupy massive areas and they graze animals such as the tribes
of AL -Awamer and AL -Manaseer.

2-Semi migrant Bedouins:(Semi Nomadic)

They swing between Nomadic life style and Settlement Style.
Most of the Bedouins in Emirates are like that, and they mostly
gather near the oases and water centers near the plains.

There are repeated economic cycles in their lives.

During the dry seasons, for instance, they move to the villages in
the oases and start taking on farming and fishing, and then they
return back again to Nomadic life style when their living
standard improves. The tribes of Bani Qatab and AL- Awamer
represent this type.

3-The Seasonal Migrant Bedouins;(Quarterly

Nomadic)
They move from the top of the mountains during the summer to
the plain in winter. This type of tribe is represented by AL-
Shohooh in Ras Al Khaima and Dibba.

The Effect of Desert on the Bedouin:

The desert provides a special life style for its inhabitants based
on the economic and social environments.

The moral factor here is dependent on the factor of adapting

with the social environment; the factors can be explained like
this;
Freedom, Bravery, Honesty and Religiousness are some of
these factors.

Migrant style of life gives Bedouin the sense of Independence

and the sense of Freedom.

The Bedouin is renowned for his bravery in resisting the foreign

invasion.
Bravery and Patience are qualities obtained from the daily life
circumstances such as danger of nature and humans.

Numerous values were nurtured in the environment of the

Arabian Peninsula.

They were distinguished from other similar geographical

environments because such values data back to Prophet Ibrahim.

They also survived and continued to progress within great Islam

values extending highly impressive civilization and cancelling
any distortion to the humanity of human.

Generosity is a quality associated with the desert. It is part and

parcel of the literature of the area as a necessity for the social
perfection and a means to achieving environmental perfection.

Other qualities such as Freedom, Bravery besides Isolation led

to the development of High Self-Esteem, were molded by
innate generosity and Islamic values as well as the Prophet
Mohamed (peace be upon him).

Bin Khaldoon says:

The desert people are closer to the good values than

city people, as they are instinctively closer to nature
and they are protected against the evil traits;

Similarly, to what has been mentioned earlier about the

Emirates good attributes, for instance, the way the tribes in the
Emirates stood firm against the Portuguese and the British
invasions.

In fact, this perseverance was deeply rooted to the fighting spirit

and sacrifice and rejection of injustice as set in motion by Islam.

A manifestation of the desert influence is the popular dancing

and singing.

Al Arrada, for instance, is a war dance symbolizing all forms of

fighting and has been performed to empress either preparation
for war or celebration of victory.

B- Sea Environment:
Since people began to sail and since they began to know secrets
of the sea, they used it for trade and as a more reliable means of
transport than the ordinary caravans.

The sea influence has become more effective than the land to the
point where navigation spread to the deep seas and open oceans.

Ships also grew larger in size and faster in speed and relied on
sails no more.

The duality of environments in the Emirates demonstrated

itself in a poor land incapable of providing the necessities of life,
and more generous maritime sector offering those more
supplies.

They consequently headed towards the sea.

 They acquired the maritime skills and they excelled when they
remarkably practiced navigation.

The Gulf area, however, has developed tremendously after the

oil discovery and the increase in production as an extremely
commodity for worldwide modern life.

The ruins at UM Alnnar Island and AL-Qasis area indicate that

since the ancient times the State of Emirates had a very active
role in sea trade, which is still obvious till this day.

We, therefore, can safely say that the trade activities which have
practiced by the people of this area were a major cause for the
growth of the civilized centers.

Since the old times, the inhabitants of the Emirates had links
with Eastern Africa and South Asia.

Ahmad Bin Majid, for instance, traveled in ships crossing the

Gulf and the Ocean to land at the Eastern African coasts.

That is why the sons inherited love of trade and the love of
acting as mediators from their forefathers as part of their daily
business transactions, assisted by their strategic situation of their
country between the East and the West.

Sea life affected greatly the Emirates society.

The Travel Season (Safar), as well as Diving Season (Ghows)

indicate how the people of Emirates lived very active times
preparing the ships and raising money for the sailors going in
these voyages.

They used to buy what they might need for the voyages and
provide their homes with enough supplies to sustain their
families during their absence.

The Effect of Sea Life on Inhabitant’s Life;

The geographical situation urged people to look into sea life as a

source of living.

Many economic actives were associated with the sea. They took
on trades such as Building ships, Fishing, Diving for pearls and
trade.
1- Ship Construction:
Building Ships boomed before the discovery of the oil and after
because the economic activities were linked to the sea such as
Diving, Fishing and Trading with Africa and Asia.

They brought teak-wood necessary for the construction of ships,

as well as ropes and candles from India.

They constructed traditional ships like:

Bougla, Boos, Sinbuk, Zarook, Jalbut, Shooi,

Bateel, Hoori and AL- Kate.
Other industries were associated with ship-building such as
Rows making, Sails and Knits.

2- Fishing:
As a result of scarcity of food, people turned to the sea.

The neighboring markets where in the dire need for food, for
fish as animals feed or as fertilizers.

The people of Emirates fish near the sea shore using Hydras,
Shads, Mider and deferent types of nets such as Labikh, Sur,
Taroof, Saliyya, Kuffa and Karkur.

Each type of these Nets is used according to the type of fish

available.
3- Pearl Diving:
Pearl Diving, locally known as Ghows, is considered to be a
traditional trade which was practiced by the Emirates long time
ago.
It represented a major source of income till the thirties of the 20 th
century when oil was discovered.

Allah (God) bestowed on this nation with suitable climate

conditions to allow for the growth of pearl particularly in the
Western side of Ras Al Khaima to Abu Ali Island situated to
the north of Ras Tannora near the Saudi coast.
Pearl shores can be found within distance of 70 mile away and
12 feet deep, each Pearl area is called (Heer).
 The Pearl Diving Professional Organization:

Diving for pearl, as a profession, can be divided into two

categories;
A- Finance Suppliers:
They prepare the fishing fleet and support the diver’s families
during their diving trips.

Suppliers had the upper hand over the whole operation.

B- Working Category:

It includes everyone working on the ship besides of course the

Nokhaza (Captain).

This category can also be subdivided into the following:

1- Captains (Nokhathas) :
Who know the secrets of the trade, particularly the pearl areas?
In most cases he owns the ship and sometimes he hires her.

He has the sole power over the ship.

2-Divers:
They go deep down to look for shells.
Mostly, they were liberated slaves, blacks, Blushes or rarely
from the high ranking tribal young men.

3-Shiyoub:
They pull ropes and they lift divers from the sea bed. Just like
the Raseef, they are less-ranking.

Raseef, however, could become divers or Shiyoub later on.

4-Atta ban:
The young apprentices who learn the trade and in return they
work in catching fish and preparing the food on the ship.

Different types of ships were used for diving, but the most
common were the Simbuk, Batell, Bakkara or AL Shiuoa.

The job required between 10-25 men on each ship.

The Effect of the Diving Season on the Emirates

Society:

There were several effects that can be summarized in the

following way;
1-Shopping market boom before diving season. The sailors
supply their families with food and clothes beside the food
supply for the ships.
2-When ships are away looking for pearls, life is quite.
However, city and trade become lively again.

3-They had strong mutual relationships and the word of honor

was accepted to complete business transactions.

4-The family members were many and they obeyed and

respected the head of the family.

5-Cooperative society which can be exemplified by the

collaborative manner of sailors on the ship. This cooperative
spirit is taken from the Great Islamic Values. When people stand
by one another in good times and in hard times such as failure to
find pearls or when the ship sinks.

6-Seafaring and Diving are expressed in the various forms of

arts such as literature, songs, proverbs, anecdotes and children’s
plays.
 Pearls Trade:
It is a very complex trade which normally took place in Dubai,
Bahrain or Bombay and was run by middlemen, brokers and
merchants.

The size of the trade depends on different factors such as the

size and the quality of the pearl’s layers besides the
craftsmanship of the merchant and the amount of supply in the
Gulf in general.

The estimated market value of pearls in the AUE in the year

1950 was about Eight Million Rupees.

Any sailor who came upon a large pearl when opening a shell
used to be financially rewarded.

C- Industrial Environment:
The poor desert land affected greatly the Emirates Society. This
pushed them towards seafaring which was not very much better.
Allah (God) had ordained to give them wealth.

In fact, they patiently clung to the land until they were

eventually endowed with the precious treasures buried in their
land, Oil.
Oil turned everything upside down.

The production of oil, in some Emirates, caused a drastic

change I life and economy and turned over all the material side
of life like clothes, buildings, streets, amnesties, food, etc. as
well as the non-material side such as habits, customs and social
rules.

Characteristics of Change in the UAE Society:

1- The initiation of relatively bigger cities and move of

Bedouins from the desert to urban areas where government
offices, job and services were concentrated.

2- Migration from Gulf, Arabic and Islamic countries as well

as foreign countries and the formation of non-Arab countries.
3- The emergence of markets and work firms.
4- Work, jobs and education began to be shared out by women
and woman’s organizations began to emerge.
5- The speared of culture and the means of society development
and its effect in formulating individual’s values, tendencies and
awareness.
6- The spread of education, educational private and
governmental institutions in Urban and Rural areas.
7- The increase of individual’s income and the improvement of
standard of living.
This resulted in increase in relocation due to the increase in
Health and Social Services.

Cultural Factors:
From the previous information and study we realize how the
individual moves from one group to dealing with other
individuals and acquiring the characteristic of socialization.
Furthermore, the individual acquires through his social life
means and ways of life or what we call the social heritage.

The social heritage can be dividing into two parts:

First:

The non-material side or culture, which includes Religion,

Language, Customs, Various Social Values and Regulations.

Second:
Material side or civilization which includes the tangible things
we perceive through our senses, such as Buildings, Clothes,
Machines and the means of Transport.

Culture and Civilization are closely tied together.

There is no doubt that heritage is the human wealth and its

cultural capital and various groups contributed in its build-up for
the sake of defining themselves against hardships.
The UAE Heritage and Its Originality:
His Highness Sheikh Zayed said:
A nation without roots is deficient of the originality factor.
He also said:

The originality of our heritage combines the originality of the

past with the magnificence of our generation’s aspirations for
the future.

Our generation is keen to embracing the past as it is the torch

lighting the present in order for the society to keep the glamour
and the originality of the heritage.

He also said:
Nations are not judged by their material wealth alone, but rather
by the authenticity of heritage.

A civilized approach is what we want for our country.

 This approach reassures the relation of religion as well as taking
pride in Arabic and Islamic authentic traditions, on one hand,
with the society on the other.

Furthermore, He says:
A nation without a past has no present or future.
He (Sheikh Zayed) the Establisher and the Leader
Says:
Our thinking about the past and the lessons extracted from it
besides thinking about the present, our future aspiration, and the
glamorous hopes for the future; all should lead us continuously
to the building of our nation and its progress.

Since the beginning of the recorded history, the Arab Muslim

Bedouin took pride in the area’s social traditions which
formulated each tribe and the fields of work and expression.

The Bedouin, further, had to create the situation that would help
to survive.

In turn, he had a duty to transfer his experience in dealing with

nature and to the following generations as the past and present
relate the relationship to the human being with nature.

The origins of the population in Emirates goes back to the

Arab Bedouins and to their desert which gave birth to the
knight on horsebacks, carrying whit them the good ethics
embodied in generosity, self-sacrifice, bravery and pride.
We can see diversity in the population in the Emirates; there are
the people who live in the desert, the people who farm the land
in the oases, the people in the slopes of the mountains and the
people who fish and live on the sea shores and near the costal
ports.

This environmental and demographic diversity express the fact

that the Bedouin in all cases belong to the same pack of ethics,
traditions and thoughts.

The Emirates Society is proud of its originality and everything

bequeathed from its social heritage including customs, social
regulations and indispensable values.

Like any other society in the world, the Emirates Society

witnesses various structural changes affecting the social
functions of individuals and group such as the social regulations
related to the family and the tribe.

Such changes are strong enough to affect the heritage and

originality which might obliterate the identity.

This is a battle field for the society, facing the originality of the
past with all its respect, appreciation and pride for the
forefathers and their historic role and their creative participation
in the making of the various aspects of civilization’s behavior
and the subsequent effects of mimicking the in-coming cultures,
as well as the direct pressures of social change and its effects
and the change in values, all these led to the emergence of
dichotomies of values, have emerged.
The Emirates Society lives a civilization shift and faces huge
cultural challenges.

At the same time, it is a developing society which makes it

susceptible to influence easily.

So, the state departments and individuals should be saw are of

this and work towards maintaining of the social and cultural
identity of this society besides maintaining its originality by
adhering to the original heritage and reviving the forefather’s
values.

Taking pride in originality should not be based on building

museums and arts galleries as well as showing off the past.

The good work, productivity and good behavior should

represent this originality.

As any other Arab Muslim society, the Emirates Society

initiated and developed on its homeland.

This homeland embodied the society’s sufferings and

aspirations.

The sense of belonging is inherent and ingrained in people’s

blood and soul ever since they realized the value of their
homeland.

The people were exposed to all sorts of sufferings; however,

they would never ignore their national duties.
The people’s national aim is to participate in the building of the
nation’s growth.

Every society would take its behavioral attitudes from the

environment they live in, affected by it and affecting it,
particularly, the social behavior we are about to explore.

Any behavior should fall under the effect of historical

progression throughout time whether it was due to internal
factors arising from within the society or external factors
imposed upon them due to communication and due to the dire
daily life needs of the society.

If we explored the behavior related to social life in Emirates

we would discover that it was affected by three factors and they
are the originality, the conservative approach and the union
entity and development.

The foreside three factors defined the social perimeters which

the society lived and still living within.

These factors shaped its customs and traditions the society

inherited from the forefathers.

Fore along time they permanently though about strengthening

the ties between the remote Emirates for the sack of forming the
social links.

Therefore, they looked to unification to achieve its aspirations.

 Moreover, the idea of unification remained pressing on to
ensure the depth of Social Bond amongst the individuals of the
state wherever they come from or whether they were Bedouins
or city people, living in the countryside or people living on the
mountains or people living in the coastal areas.

The interest is in communication and building rather than the

interest in the place itself.

They realized the need to work and think together to build a

modern state, with original characteristics not oblivious to the
past.
This state would not be satisfied with little hopes, but with
building a flourishing future.
 The Major Characteristics
of the UAE Society:
1-Language as a Unifying Factors:

Language is a major factor that supports the political unity.

Language reflects the society’s customs and traditions.

Above all it records the cultural heritage and the different

experiences including forefather’s literature and their life style.

2-Religious Unity:

Islamic religion endowed the spiritual unity on the culture of the

society.
Undoubtedly, their unification through Islam would mean
unification in customs and traditions and life style.

This would insure a coherent unity.

Consequently, religious and spiritual unity forms a major
characteristic of the society, had such characteristic been
affordable to any society, it would ensure a more stable political
life and would ensure its continuity; taking into consideration
that Islam calls for unity:
(Cling thee to the rope of God and do not disperse.

3-Human Homogeneity:

The Emirates Society is distinguished by clinging to

homogeneity and rapprochement assisted by the geographical
factors which facilitated communication and mixing.
The human unity, therefore, formed an important factor in the
society’s characteristics.

It should be mentioned at this context that race homogeneity

dates back deep in history and, therefore, the society has never
been afflicted with racial discrepancies all through history.

Although the society is formed of northern and southern tribes,

yet the society never met lineage discrepancy. So, we can say,
then.

The people of Emirates sprang from the Arabian Peninsula and

they have been deeply bonded to it throughout history.

In fact, the idea is not to assert the homogeneity of one race.

 On the contrary, what we are trying to explain is that it is not an
inharmonious society and mainly it is a relationship based on a
variety of kinship.

We, however, believe that the unity of a society cannot rely on

pure linear kinship but on social intimacy, spiritual closeness
and being merciful towards one another.

All ensue from our common belief in common aims and one
nation besides having a sense of belonging to one heritage and
one culture.

4-Historical and Fate Unity:

Emirates Society’s Historical characteristics were embodied

along history as the people witnessed positive as negative
events, affecting them and portraying their feelings and
emotions.

When we explore the historical circumstances, we discover that

the people of Emirates enjoyed some flourishing periods of
time.

They also went through hard times during economic recession.

They were all, however, united under the ordeal of the
imperialist era which was the cause for enduring weakness,
partition and retardation.

No wonder why attempts were made to annihilate fragmentation

and restore cohesiveness.
As soon as the imperialists left the area, the unifying factors
began to emerge rapidly.

This was the result for the formation of the union later on.
Undoubtedly, the people of Emirates were keen to assert
their national unity, a manifestation of their belief in the
common fate.

We can say, then, the common historical experience plays an

important role in the coherence of the society and the
embodiment of its free will to cope with its targets and its
special needs.

5-The Geographical Unity:

It is considered to be one of the important characteristics of the

society.

It is also considered a manifestation of strength of each political

unit.
The geographical closeness would surely lead to more
coherence.

We need to point out at this juncture that the area of the UAE
forms a whole unit.

The geographical features do not impede movement for one

part to the other with ease.
The imperialists realized the importance of geographical
integrity; that is why they never bothered to build a network of
road which would normally achieve speedy communication.

The geographical unity is not limited to human

communication, but it includes other elements such as the
abundant wealth as well as the strategic geographical position
which adds strength and power.

6-Customs and Traditions Unity:

They present the social basis for the customs, the traditions and
the values of the society.

Furthermore, they are considered as a control factor for

behavior and ethics which defines individual’s relations to
enable them to work together.

This unity also, is attributed to the society’s economic, historical

and cultural circumstances.

Since the people of the society have been living similar

circumstances, this led to almost unanimous stance towards
ethical values and behavior, and congruent response to the
external pressures which ultimately would result in social
homogeneity.

There is no doubt that the psychological experience the

Emirates have been through was a major factor in forming their
past, present and future behavior. They take pride in self-
esteem.

It might be helpful to refer to the fact that the Emirates Society

has derived its self-esteem, customs, traditions and social
factors-control from the Arab Islamic civilization.

There might be some slight social difference as a result of the

nature of the environment and the different living styles.

As a matter of fact, the Emirates Society, as we explained

before, is characterized by the diversity of life styles. It is
natural, therefore, to witness a multi-faceted heritage.

The Emirates Society. however, managed to form an integrated

image which expresses its identity and which can be easily
integrated in the Arab and Gulf entity without losing its private
status.
This is because the private status of Emirates does not clash with
any aspect of Pan-Arab Nation’s culture, as it pivots around
Arabic and Islamic bases.

There is no doubt that the homogeneous social bases provide the

Emirates Society with satisfaction, warmth and reassurance.
This can be clearly noticed in weddings traditions, national and
religious celebrations, mourning and dead as well as daily life
buying and selling, entertainment, decoration, sports work, life
style and eating habits.
In fact, all what have been mentioned do represent the customs
and traditions and further represent the dominance of the
original Arab values such as Generosity, Allegiance, Family’s
Values of integration and the attitude towards Honor and
Uprightness?

7-Similarity in the Political Structure:

We can recognize the correspondence and similarity of the

political structure of the Emirates forming the union; for all of
them were established upon corresponding bases and
circumstances.

The agreement they reached does not embodies correspondence

in the political structure only, but it focuses also on the
established strong ties linking the ruling families, such ties
sometimes amount to the ties of kinship.

Ultimately, we may conclude that reaching the political

unification is not attained three the various factors we explained.

We should bear in mind that the political union was a must due
to the security circumstances in the area; furthermore, due to the
growth situation the Emirates Society is heading to whether at
the short term or at the long term.
The historical Roots of the UAE Society and
the Way to the Statehood
1-The historical Roots of the Gulf Societies:

All through history the Gulf area has been occupying a standing
civilization center.

The Gulf had a vital position for navigation and commerce.

Urban centers and cities were established on both sides of the
Gulf and ships loaded with the goods of the East arrived at
these centers to be sent to other countries such as Iraq, Bilad
Ash Sham as well as the countries of the Mediterranean Sea.

Archeologists and historian are keen to study the history of the

area for the sack of clarification and the creation of awareness.

The first human settlements appeared in the Gulf area and

particularly in the Emirates at the end of the Stone Age (i.e.
before 6000 years).
Ruins of these settlements were found in the nearby and the
remote islands (e.g. Delma and Mirwaeh).

In the year 4000 BC, and before 6000 years, man’s connection
with the sea maritime started during the Slave’s Civilization in
Mesopotamian Valley.

During the Bronze Age (3200-1300 BC), the Gulf Emirates

played an integral part in the regional trade by exporting Cooper
and Pearls to the Mesopotamian Empires.

They imported Ivory, Pots and other goods from Afghanistan,

Iran and the Indies Valley.

Furthermore, land and sea played an intrinsic role in the local

economy.

Ruins in Mileeha in Sharjah indicate that there were

commercial ties with Greece in the 3rd Century BC.

The Fossils found in the Gulf Emirates provide enough h

evidence to prove the existence of well-organized settlers who
inhabited the area in the First Half of the Third Millennium
BC.

Ruins of that era, found in

(I.e. Umm al-Nar, Hafeet, al-Qattara, Heily, Mileeha
and Door, etc.)

Indicate the existence of stable civilization and the existence of

external effects of other civilizations coming from the
neighboring areas, particularly from the Sind Valley, the
Mesopotamian Valley and Iran.

This would assert the fact that the inhabitants in the area worked
in Trade.

They played the role of middlemen by importing goods and re-

exporting them.

Furthermore, they were skilful in post-making and in making

stone-containers.

They also worked in farming and grazing animals and fishing.

This boom, however, had soon declined in the second
millennium BC, especially in the second part of the second
millennium because of circumstances we know very little about.
This kind of recession affected negatively the various areas of
the Arabian Gulf.

The road to the statehood:

The unification, as experience, was preceded by long period of
experimentation.

Unification:
1-Projects and Experimentation from 1952-1960
Subsequent to events on the political arena in the Gulf during
that period, some attempts and initiatives to unify the Emirates
of the Coast of Oman were taken.

One of these was the successful British project in 1952. It was

successful and lasted for a long period of time because it came
to serve the British plans and purposes.

The attempt of unifying Sharjah and Fujairah, however, failed

because it did not correspond with the British interests.

2-Unification Experiments during the Period 1968-

1970:

At a time when the British interests increased in the Emirates,

and after the reinforcement of the military British Bases in the
region, many international, local and regional factors forced
Britain to take its historic decision to withdraw from the Gulf.
This withdrawal from the Gulf is considered to be a crucial
event in the history of the UAE: for the Coastal Trucial
Emirates was the first Arab land to be colonized by the British
in 1820.

However, it was the last Arab territory to gain independence

when the British withdrew from it in the year 1971.

After the British withdrawal decision from the Gulf in 1968,

The Emirates faced a pressing issue concerning its new
responsibility resulting from this withdrawal.

Views emerged to comment on what is called (political and

military vacuum) resulting from this withdrawal and the
pressing question was:

Who would be the replacement for filling the vacuum?

This urged the leaders of the Emirates to ponder about their fate
and the interest of people.

Therefore, the idea of establishing a union emerging from the

leaders themselves, without the British interference initiated.
The idea evolved in the following ways:

1-The Reciprocal Union Combining Abu Dhabi &

Dubai February 18, 1968:

The announcement of the British intention to withdraw from the

Gulf and the Emirates was a new incentive urging the Emirate’s
leaders to think seriously of establishing a union to face the new
responsibilities of independence.

Abu Dhabi & Dubai were the First to take action.

Therefore, the first initiative was February 18, 1968.

The Two Leaders His Highness the late Sheikh Zayed Bin
Sultan AL Nahyan & His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed
AL Maktoum met in Samha, situated on the borders between
the two Emirates, for the sake of discussing the new situation.
 This meeting led signing a reciprocal agreement between both
leaders, known as (Dubai Reciprocal Agreement) which is
considered to be the primal core of Emirates Unification.

This agreement was completed after one month of the

announcement of the British withdrawal.

The agreement stipulated the following two issues:

1-Forming a union combining the Two Emirates, supervising

external affairs, defense, security, medical care and
education, etc. the Union should be given the legislative
authority in the state beside any mutual affairs to be considered
and agreed upon.

2-Both leaders agreed to call the other Emirates to discuss the

union issue and to take part in it, then to call the Rulers of
Qatar & Bahrain to discuss the future of the area and agree
upon a unified action to safeguard the future.

The Nonagon Union (of the Nine-Emirates) experience

in February 27, 1968:

After the Reciprocal Agreement held between the Rulers of Abu

Dhabi & Dubai, the Union idea started to march towards
persistent maturity. There were a series of expanded meetings.

The Two Rulers of Dubai & Abu Dhabi called the other Rulers
of the Trucial Emirates as well as the Tow Rulers of Qatar &
Bahrain, for the first meeting which took place in Dubai in
February 5, 7 and 20, 1968.

The joint statement issued by the leaders stipulated the

establishment of the Arab Emirates Union, aiming at
strengthening cooperation, unifying the foreign policy and
reinforcing the collective defense policy.

The statement also producing a permanent and comprehensive

charter for the Union as a desired step towards ensuring stability
in the region.

Most of the Arab countries approved the Nine Gulf Union.

The Union, however, was sharply disapproved by some Arab
countries such as Syria, Algeria and Yemen.

The Iranian Government also opposed the establishment of the

Union.

In an official statement they refused to recognize the Union of

the Emirates, and the joining of the Bahrain would never stop
Iran’s perpetual demand for annexing Bahrain.

The Union Supreme Council held several meetings to agree on

a formula, but to no avail due to the obstinate opposition of
some ambitious members, desire to play a major role in the
Union’s organization. The Nine Rulers, therefore, failed to
form the Union for the following reasons:

1-The Ambiguity of the Union Agreement:

The agreement stipulated, the establishment of the Union,
setting down the independence as well as autonomy of each
Emirate.
This meant that the Council had to bring about a legal document
to counterbalance two conflicting issues which can be achieved
either by feeble agreements.

2- Qatar & Bahrain:

Both successively announced independence after the failure of
the Nine Ruler’s talks.
When the Shah of Iran announced in January 1969 that he
would not use force in claiming the Island of Bahrain, and that
he would leave it the people of Bahrain to self-determent their
future, the case of Bahrain independence was discussed in the
UN in May 11, 1970.
In August 14, 1971 Bahrain announced its Independence.
Qatar immediately followed suit and announced independence
in September 1971, and terminated the special treaties tying the
country with Britain.
Both countries, Qatar & Bahrain withdraw simultaneously
from the Nonagon Union.

The failure of the Nonagon Union;

The idea was to focus on Heptagon Union comprising the
Seven Emirates of the Coast of Oman. The birth of the United
Arab Emirates was declared in December the Second 1971.
The Establishment of the UAE in 1971:
The Union movement passed through several stages and
evolved into different forms.

Some of these forms were suggested from an imperialist stance

by Britain to allow for maintaining its entity in the area.

The other form from sprang from the rulers desire to gather
together sustaining a unified stance and plan.

Whatever the form of the union might be, it reflects the concept
of unity which existed throughout history.

The roots have been there deeply rooted in history, but the
imperialist dominance hindered its realization.

The emergence of the UAE rectified the state of partition which

the imperialists were keen to keep for the sake of ensuring their
supremacy the longest time possible.

So, it was not a surprising phenomenon; on the contrary, the

Emirates existed within unified geographical and historical
framework.

In fact, the Union was established for the purpose of creating a

unified stance to meet various requirements and needs.
The birth of the UAE in December 1971 was a result of the
Arabs continuous aspiring for unity.
It embodied a long process initiated by His Highness the Late
Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan AL Nahyan and his brothers the
Rulers of the Emirates.

Since Britain declared her intention to withdraw from the

region before the end of 1971, the Sheikhs began to think in a
very serious manner about the Union because they strongly
believed that the Union would enable to fulfill long term
political and economic aims.

This is due to the opportunities gained from integration;

particularly when the country obtains a unique political and
economic weight.

The Historic Announcement of the UAE Establishment:

In July 18, 1971, the temporary institution of the UAE was

issued. His Highness the Late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan AL
Nahyan, the Ruler of Abu Dhabi was selected as the President
of the Union.

Abu Dhabi was chosen as the contemporary capital of the

Union.

They also agreed on the distribution of the ministerial portfolios.

The independence was announced in Abu Dhabi.

The British Government approved it, and consequently

abolished all the treaties and agreements between the Two
Governments and considered them outdated.
In doing so, Britain lost the main focal positions supporting its
imperialist dominance which lasted for one and a half century.

The Union started with Six Emirates.

The Emirate of Ras al-Khaima declined for few months until

all the hanging issues were finalized. In December 23, a letter
was sent from Ras al-Khaima to the Union seeking approval
for joining it, which was unanimously approved. In February
10, 1972 Ras al-Khaima joined the Union officially.

The foundation of the UAE came into being as a result of local,

regional & international concerted effort.

It was an official realization of a factual idea; the people of the

area believed in for so long.

It was an ideal representation of a variety of political, economic,

social religious, historical and geographical factors.

It is a dream that has come true to see the Emirates of the Coast
of Oman unified.
The sincere desire of the wise leadership helped in overcoming
the obstacles and achieving the people’s aspirations.

Thanks to the enormous effort exerted by

His Highness the Late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan AL Nahyan
and His brother His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed AL
Maktoum.
Both managed to reduce the differences and move forward from
the state of partition to the state of integration.

Let alone the role played by the Arab countries, specifically the
Gulf countries, in facilitating reaching a general agreement as
to the necessarily of unification to maintain the Arab identity.

The ultimate success was in placing the UAE on the world map
as an independent sovereign country.

The process of change continued, and a brave new era of

prosperity started to the benefit of all the countries of the Arab
World.
The Union State, however, began to have problems such as:

1- Iran seized the three Gulf Islands on the first day the Union
was declared.
2- The borders problems with the neighboring countries.
3- The migration influx which created population imbalance.

Challenges Faced the State:

His Highness the Late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan realized, from
the first moment of establishing the start that it came as an
embodiment of the people’s will and aspiration, and realized
also that:
1- The big national target achieved was just the beginning of a
long road, and there are substantial challenges awaiting this
fledging country.
2- The individual is the central factor in generating progress.

The government, therefore, was keen in building the individual

and preparing him/her for future tasks needed for the
development of the country.

In fact, if we were to pursue the state activities, mainly as

instructed by His Highness the Late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan
AL Nahyan, we would realize the enormity of the efforts made.

Since the establishment of the State, the authorities concerned

took the necessary steps to produce the studies, means and
methods for taking the people to modernity through eradicating
the dominant underdevelopment primarily because of the
hardships related to the British occupation.

The Government Started With the Following Steps;

First:
The Settlement of the Bedouins by providing the
appropriate accommodation for the sake of achieving a proper
Social Growth with the participation of each individual.

This was associated with great reconstruction of Badiya

(desert) and carrying out rehabilitation projects.
The concept of Growth means building the self-power of the
societies to be able to develop and enhance the self-energy
latent within it.

Second:

Raising the standard of Knowledge and Education;

Based on the belief in the importance of knowledge and

education in formulating the individual, the Government’s
miraculous effort led to the indiscriminate upgrading of the
individual’s level of knowledge and education.
Education and the eradication of illiteracy have become
fundamental targets for this young nation.
 Chapter 2
Historical Background of the GCC Countries
Gulf Region Map
Gulf States Map
 THE SIX COUNTRIES

Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman

Saudi Arabia--are all Arab states on the Arabian Gulf
that share certain characteristics.
But they are not the only countries that border the Gulf.
Iran, & Iraq, shares the coastline as well, and they too
shared in the historical development of the area.
Of the Six States covered in this volume, Oman has a
particular culture and history that distinguish it from its
neighbors.
It also is the state with the shortest coastline along the
Arabian Gulf.
Most of Oman lies along the Gulf of Oman and the
Arabian Sea.
The main element that unites these countries is the nature
of their involvement with people and nations beyond the
region.
The Gulf has been an important waterway since ancient
times, bringing the people who live on its shores into early
contact with other civilizations.
In the ancient world, the Gulf peoples established trade
connections with India;

In the middle Ages, they went as far as China; and in

the modern era, they became involved with the European
powers that sailed into the Indian Ocean and around
Southeast Asia.
In the twentieth century, the discovery of massive oil
deposits in the Gulf made the area once again a
crossroads for the Modern World.
Other factors also bring these countries together.
The people are mostly Arabs and, are mostly Muslims.
Because they live in basically tribal societies, family and
clan connections underlie most political and economic
activity.
The discovery of oil and the increasing contact with the
West has led to tremendous material and social changes.

THE GULF IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Gulf States and its Region

During the Bronze Age (3200-1300 BC) Gulf region
played an important role in various regional trades like the
export of copper and pearls to the empire of
Mesopotamia; (The land between two rivers—Iraq)
And import of ivory, pottery and other goods from
Afghanistan, Iran and Landis Valley.

Fertile Crescent Map

Mesopotamia (The Land between Two Rivers)

Land and sea trade played a key role in the local
economy.
Archaeological sites in Maliha /Sharjah, for example,
showed evidence on the existence of trade with Greece in
the third century BC in the UAE.
Archaeological evidence suggests that Dalmun
(Bahrain) returned to prosperity after the Assyrian
Empire stabilized the Tigris & Euphrates area at the end
of the second millennium B.C.
 A powerful ruler in Mesopotamia meant a prosperous
Gulf, and Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king who ruled in
the seventh century B.C., was particularly strong.
 Assyrian Empire 858- 627 BC

He extended Assyrian influence as far as Egypt and

controlled an empire that stretched from North Africa to
the Arabian Gulf.
The Egyptians, however, regained control of their country
about a half-century after they lost it.
Rafedain Basin
 ANCIENT CITY STATES IN IRAQ

A series of other conquests of varying lengths followed.

In 325 B.C., Alexander the Great sent a fleet from India
to follow the Eastern, or Persian Coast of the Gulf up to
the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and sent
other ships to explore the Arab side of the waterway.

Alexander Empire Map

The temporary Greek presence in the area increased

Western interest in the Gulf during the next two
centuries.
Alexander's successors, however, did not control the
area long enough to make the Gulf a part of the Greek
world.
In the third century A.D .
Under Sassanians rule, Persian control over the Gulf
reached its height.
Sassanid Empire Map before the Islam

Oman was no longer a threat, and the Sassanians were

strong enough to establish agricultural colonies and to
engage some of the nomadic tribes in the interior as a
border guard to protect their western flank from the
Romans.
 Romani Empire Map before the Islam

Judaism and Christianity arrived in the Gulf from a

number of directions: from Jewish and Christian tribes in
the Arabian Desert; from Ethiopian Christians to the
south;
 Religions Map before Islam

and from Mesopotamia, where Jewish and Christian

communities flourished under Sassanians rule.
Whereas Zoroastrianism seems to have been confined
to Persian colonists, Christianity and Judaism were
adopted by some Arabs.
The popularity of these religions paled, however, when
compared with the enthusiasm with which the Arabs
greeted Islam.
 Islam is a system of religious beliefs and an all-
encompassing way of life.
Muslims believe that God (Allah) revealed to the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the rules
governing society and the proper conduct of society's
members.
It is incumbent on the individual, therefore, to live in a
manner prescribed by the revealed law and incumbent on
the community to build the perfect human society on earth
according to holy injunctions.
Islam recognizes no distinctions between the religious
institution and the state.
The distinction between religious and secular law is a
recent development that in part reflects the more
pronounced role of the state in society and Western
economic and cultural penetration.
The impact of religion on daily life in Muslim countries is
extensive, usually greater than that found in the West.
The area that constitutes the present-day Arabian Gulf
States was on the immediate periphery of the rise of
Islam.
In A.D. 610, Muhammad ( Pease be upon him)--a
merchant of the Hashemite branch of the ruling Quraysh
tribe in the Arabian town of Mecca--began to preach the
first of a series of revelations that Muslims believe was
granted him by God, some directly and some through the
Angel Gabriel.
A fervent monotheist, Muhammad (Pease be upon him)
denounced the polytheism of his fellow Meccans .
Because the town's economy was based in part on a
thriving pilgrimage business to the shrine called the Kaaba
and to numerous other pagan religious sites in the area,
his censure earned him the enmity of the town's leaders.
In 622 he and a group of followers accepted an invitation
to settle in the town of Yathrib, later known as Medina
(the city), because it was the center of Muhammad's
activities.

The move, or hijra , known in the West as the hegira,

marks the beginning of the Islamic era and of Islam as a
force in history; the Muslim calendar begins in 622.
In Medina, Muhammad (Pease be upon him) continued
to preach, and he eventually defeated his detractors in
battle.
He consolidated the temporal and the spiritual leadership
in his person before his death in 632.
After Muhammad's death, his followers compiled those
of his words regarded as coming directly from God into
the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam.
Others of his sayings, recalled by those who had known
him, became the hadith.
Apostasy War Map
The precedent of Muhammad's deeds is called the
Sunni.
Together they form a comprehensive guide to the spiritual,
ethical, and social life of an orthodox Muslim.
Islam entered the region by the famous Arab leader Amr
ibn al-Aas, and was able to clear his successor to the
ulf from invaders, living the period of stability and is now in
the era of the Umayyad Caliphate one of the centers of
trade and navigation, and the UAE to an archaeological
sites dating back to early Islamic times, especially on the
east coast in Dibba ,which includes the tomb of a
cemetery
called the prince of armies, a contemporary of the Caliph
Abu Baker, the village of Bidya.

Discovered in the emirate of Ajman relics belonging to the

peoples who inhabited the area in the late Islamic periods
due to the tenth century, like the archaeological
discoveries at the site of Alrimania in Ras Al Khaimah
was found a copper coins, one bearing the date 913 H.
(1507 AD)
The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta mentioned a number of
cities visited in the Gulf region in the year (1331AD), such
as Kalba and Khor Fakkan.
It also mentioned that the people of UAE and Oman are
one of the first ethnic groups that converted to Islam
voluntarily after the people of Yemen, where the
“Evidence suggests that the region of its neighbors,
Dubai has had a hugely significant in the era of early
Islam and the northern town of Dibba Fujairah and the
biggest battles took place after the death of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him)”.
During the period between the falling of the Umayyad
dynasty 750 AD to the arrival of the Portuguese to the
Gulf coasts in 1507, the Gulf region including the UAE
witnessed many changes and political instability.
After the weakness of the Abbasid state (750-1258AD)
the Arab Gulf witnessed the emergence of independent
Arab Emirates,
The most important one of them was:
1-The Emirate of Alaionyeen founded by Abdullah
bin Ali Layouni.

2-The Emirate of AL- Asvurieen founded By ASfour

Bin Rashid Beni Amer.

3-The Emirate of AL-Jubouri that founded By Bin

Jabr AL-Zamel Beni Amer.
These Arabic Emirates sentenced the Gulf region for
almost four and a half centuries , which witnessed a huge
boom in the area of navigation and trade, which
dominated by Arab navigation in the Indian Ocean and
many Arabs becomes famous, many of them were
seafarers who operate their names in that period.
As for the UAE there have been some commercial centers
referred to by Arab geographers and travelers, such as
Dibba, Kalba, and Khor Fakkan and Fujairah on the east
coast, and Galfar and possibly other cities have changed
their names on the west coast of the UAE.

Entry of the Portuguese to the Gulf:

In modern times, since the beginning of the sixteenth
century Arab descent ended in compensation for the
greater part of the Arab Maritime sovereignty of the
Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean and the Arabian
Sea, and depriving Arabs of the commercial role they
played throughout the ages grip on the middle ring of
international trade between East and West.
After the dominance of the Ottomans and the cutting
down of the land routes between Europe and India, has
made European countries looking for alternative routes.
They asked the Portuguese, who already the first signs of
evil in the Arabian Gulf to do so, and the record date of
the first commander Vasco de Gama and General
Albuquerque after him and came after them a number of
terrible massacres against Arabs and Muslims and
lunched a crusade involving the destruction of huge
massacres and mutilation of people’s noses, as was the
destruction and burned of Khor Fakkan.
The attacks of the Portuguese continued on the Gulf
most of the sixteenth century until the result of weakened
power of resistance shown by the solid population and
other European countries dispute Portugal in the control
of the east seas.
And then entered the Netherlands, Britain and France,
circuit competition with Portugal and Britain was able to
resolve the situation to their advantage with the growth of
the East Indian Company, founded in (1617 AD) and
“It was a semi-state in its interests, and commercial and
military institutions” and succeeded in the output of the
region in Portugal (1625 AD)
In 1766 the Portuguese disappeared from the
competition.

TRIBAL NATURE OF GULF SOCIETY

Gulf States have not granted citizenship freely for two

reasons.

First, they are reluctant to share wealth with recent

arrivals;

Second, the tribal nature of Gulf society does not admit

new members easily.
A tribe usually traces its lineage to a particular eponymous
ancestor.
The standard Arabic reference to tribe is bani fulan, or
"the sons [bani] of so-and- so.
“The Bani al Murrah in Saudi Arabia, for example, traces
their line back to a figure named Murrah, who lived some
time before the Prophet (Peace be upon him).
Over a period of 1,500 years, the sons of Murrah, or any
other ancient figure, have tended to become numerous,
making further distinctions necessary.
Accordingly, tribes are divided into clans and then into
households (fukhud; sing., fakhd).
Households include groups of single families.
Together this extended group of families calls itself a
tribe.
Each tribe has certain characteristics, such as different
speech, dress, and customs.
But since the 1950s, speech has become less of a
distinguishing factor because of the fluidity of Gulf
society.
Two of the most important tribal groups in Arabia are the
Qahtan and the Adnan, whose roots stem from the
belief that tribes in the north of the peninsula were
descended from Adnan, one of Ismail's sons, and that
tribes in the south were descended from Qahtan, one of
Noah's sons.
People in the Gulf often attribute the structure of tribal
alliances to this north-south distinction, and many still
classify their tribes as Adnani or Qahtani.
Historically, the tribal nature of society has occasioned
petty warfare in the Gulf.
Arab tribes have attacked each other since before Islam,
but tribal customs have prevented these attacks from
turning into random violence.
Clans, however, have defected from their tribe and made
alliances with other tribes, and tribes have sometimes
banded together to form a more powerful group.
Moreover, although some tribes may trace their lineage to
some heroic figure, the real identity of the tribe lies in the
people that currently compose it.
In the tribe, an individual bases his or her sense of self-
esteem on the honor of the tribe as a whole.
The emphasis on the group precluded the rise of a strong
leader.
Accordingly, tribal leadership is often described as;
"The first among equals," suggesting a collective
leadership in which one among a number of leaders is
recognized as the most authoritative.
This principal leader must continue to consult with his
lesser colleagues and so rules by consensus.
An extension of this pattern of leadership is the concept of
leading families within the tribe.
Although tribalism tends to discourage inherited authority,
traditions of leadership are nevertheless passed down,
and tribes expect that certain families will furnish them
with leader’s generation after generation.
This pattern occurred when tribes that were previously
nomadic settled down in oases or coastal areas.
It then became more likely that certain families would
accumulate wealth, whether in food or in goods, and with
this wealth would increase their authority.
In this way, the individual families that in the 1990s
controlled the Gulf States established themselves around
1800.
The existence of these ruling families is perhaps the most
obvious manifestation of Arab tribalism in Gulf society in
1993 .
Another manifestation is the collective manner in which
these families rule.
In most of these states, the position of Amir is not passed
from father to son but alternates among different parallel
patrilineal lines.
This makes the appointment of the next Amir an open
issue and something on which the entire family must
agree.
The family also participates in the various consultative
bodies that exist to advise the leader.
Such bodies, which include figures outside the ruling
family, help to institutionalize the first among equals
system in these states.
The way that government officials are appointed reflects
the importance of tribal connections.
Members of the ruling family are accommodated first,
followed by families and tribes with whom the rulers have
been traditionally allied.
In Bahrain, for example, the ruling Al Khalifa have given
the major positions in the bureaucracy to Arabs from
tribes that helped them rule the island in the nineteenth
century.
The Al Khalifa have given lesser positions to Arabs from
merchant families with whom they engaged in the pearl
industry but with whom they had no tribal alliances.
Tribal cohesiveness is also reflected in the efforts of the
Gulf States to restrict citizenship.

General Features of the Personality of Bedouin

All the dwellers of the Arabian Peninsula are descended from
Bedouin Tribes. In order to know the nature and characteristics
of the population of the UAE in general and the Emirate of
Dubai in particular, we must identify the Nomadic Personality
of Arab Tribe, which descended all Arab Emirates population
of them. Here we are trying to give our perception of Personal
Bedouin in general and Arabic in particular. With regard to the
Arab Bedouin Personality characteristics, there are a lot of
positives that must be taken out and be developed, however,
some of the negatives that must be eliminated and replaced
with more positive characteristics. Therefore we believe that it
is not an easy task, especially if we know that the personal
generally is the product of many factors such as; social,
psychological, environmental and civilized, and even biological
factors. And these characteristics are either inherited or are
acquired.
The following are the main features of social and psychological
of Bedouin Personality in general and particularly Arab.

1-Bedouin Contempt of Manual Work:

This feature is confirmed by many studies, 1 especially among
Nomadic Pastoral Communities. This feature has become one
of the Bedouin values prevailing among many Nomadic Pastoral
Communities. Even with the change of circumstances and the
fact that some Bedouin disrespect other works, they prefer
certain acts mostly determined reference values; they prefer to
work receivership or driving. This feature belongs to the
originally Bedouin.
 2-Bedouin Love of Freedom:
This feature is derived from the environmental conditions
surrounding Bedouin people, and the nature of roaming.
Bedouin Shepherd does not accept any restriction on his life
and that is without a doubt subject to the groups of matters
relating to the collective matters, but he cannot accept any
restriction limits of his authority, especially in matters relating
to his family and himself.
This feature has resulted from several properties including:
A- Exaggerated appreciation of Nomad to himself.
B- Bedouin irritable, especially if they think that their honor has
been touched, or their dignity has been humiliated, so that,
they erupted without consider the consequences of that
emotion.
C- Rush in dealing with hardship, because of the strong
appreciation for himself, and quickly make him fighting hard in
defence of freedom, he responds to any hurt affects his dignity
or his freedom.
D- Intolerance, whether this intolerance, for his opinion, his
personality, his family and his clan. He supports for himself, his
clan and fanatic them in all situations, does not care then be
either gain or lose.
1- Dr. Al-Fawal; Salah Mustafa: Sociology of Bedouin, Dar Al-Nahdah Al-Arabia publisher; P.
330, Cairo, 1974.

3- Nomad Reimburse the Covenant:

Reimburse of the covenant is the Bedouin way of behavior,
especially Arab ones. The fulfillment of the covenant expresses
their duty performance on one hand, and that deserve the
sacrifice of self, wealth and sons on the other hand. Arab
history is full of the most wonderful of stories to fulfill
covenant.
The fulfill of this feature constitutes one of the fundamental
values of the Arab Bedouin Communities, including ensure of
trust, honesty, whether at various economic transactions or
discharging any of the worldly issues, individual or collective.
This feature has been associated with generosity, virility,
courage, and help. This feature arose as a reaction of
characteristics of difficult living situation and environmental
witnessed by the Bedouin. So he expected – due to fulfill of this
feature – to be treated equally, if subjected to a situation
requires honoring his coming or his rescue or protect him if
what happened to him detestable by nature and man.

4- Bedouin Intelligent:
Many studies have proven that Arab Bedouin are too smart. All
that is missing in the opportunity and the possibilities, and then
it will not show his ability to assimilation only, but to excel too.

5- Nomad Owes Allegiance to his Tribe Whatever Its

Place:
Nomad owes allegiance to his kinship – especially his tribe –
whatever its place, and honor of belonging to it and saves the
sequence of kinship to his tribe by heart, and stick to all
customs, traditions and values to support his connection to it,
and increase his closer, in spite of the distance spacing between
them.
In the Arab Society, we find people of the same tribe have
scattered in many countries, but when you ask the Bedouin
himself, he tells you without delay and without thinking, that
he is from the tribe A, and he is from the state B.

6- Bedouin Respect to Age and Deep Appreciation to

Him:
Nomad respects the elderly. The elderly represent the
experiences, skills, know-how, wisdom and knowledge of
different things of Nomadic lifestyle. Especially that, the
experience in this field, be a natural alternative to science
which lacking in Bedouin Communities.
7- Unlimited Look of Bedouin to the Time and Distance:
This is due to a huge vacuum and to the spread of the
phenomenon of disguised unemployment led to a lack of
appreciation of the importance of time for Bedouin, who does
not perform at today can be accomplished tomorrow, or even
next month, the world will not fly.
The Nomad has sensitivity for the Sahara ‘a (Desert) distance,
he walked all his life, he is aware of her distance, and he knows
that it’s no end for the Sahara ‘a.

8- Nomad, Lack of Appreciation for Savings:

In the case of savings, they have no place at the desert;
perhaps, it is due to not having enough things for savings, and
to the emergence of the values of generosity and hospitality.
There are sets of values and proverbs, glorify all these and keep
it. If we take savings as an example, we will find a range of
examples incite not to savings like:
A- Every day and living in it.
B- Spend what in the pocket, come what unseen.
C- Poverty without debt is the rich full.
D- Greatness with a few, better of abundance with humiliation.
E- Take the authentic (wife), and sleep on mats.
9- The Bedouin Passionate. He Influenced by Personal
Relationships and Phenotypic:
Here the passionate (emotion) is intended – emotional
unbalance --, the feelings of sadness, joy and anger, can easily
notice on the Bedouin – Arab particular – which seem obvious,
without hiding or covering up.
The Nomad also influenced by a lot of personal relationships
and phenotypic, a visit to him in his tent, his home , or
described him as the most generous qualities , or a meeting by
saying sweet , or greeting exaggerated. All these guarantors
open some of locks doors, and make him pardon, or granted
without the expense.

10- Nomad is Estimated Strength, and Respect the

Courage:
There different manifestations of strength and courage,
appreciated Bedouin and respected, regardless of the
objectives of those appearances or achievements.
Meaning that, the Bedouin himself may not be brave in it, but
revere other strongman, whether their strength in the service
of society, or against his goals, and this estimate is not because
of fear, but it is stems an internal sense of respect.

11- Nomad Trust and believes in Metaphysical Powers:

 The Bedouin are certain and firm belief in metaphysical and
magical powers and their uncanny ability, to grant and tender
that good and evil. This may explain the mystery enjoy,
magicians, astrologers and clergy high social standing, may
reach sanctification extent have some Bedouin Communities.

12- Bedouin Slow Responding, to Manifestations of

Cultural Changes:
Nomad is known slowly responding to civilized changes
which occurring around him ,and that remain his latent desire
to resist that change that was in a position to, otherwise it only
negative resistance. Perhaps, this arising, out of the Bedouin
keen on persistent longing to the past, and to all that left
parents, as well as the constant fear of the unknown and what
comes tomorrow. Hence, his eagerness not to venture, what
he knew in exchange for what he does not know, even that,
was the last good and interest.

13- Bedouin Always Warned, and Tends to Depression

and Sadness:
Cautious earned him from the cruel nature volatile. The
people are always struggling for a living or for control the
means of living. Tendency to depression and grief, perhaps,
arising from predicted evil continually and always separate him
from lands inhabited by neighborhoods that had lived with
them. The Arab Bedouin poetry is full of poems that show the
sadness. The Arab Bedouin and obituary continuous views, if
the Arab Bedouin start singing, the first thing to pronounce him
the groans of grief, remorse, pain and separation.

14- Bedouin Concern and Unstable:

Concern, is something that inherited from the unstable nature
which sometimes shall be granted its bid without the expanse,
and sometimes prevent a sudden, and its distaste be without
limit. Bedouin concern perhaps, arising from the constant fear
and warned him treachery of people and nature. So, if he feels
appalled at every jolt he resorts to his sword if he sensed
danger.
It may be fear of the anonymous forces and unknown, such
fear of evil spirits, for example. So he resorted to various forms
of images, stealthy starting from outgoing mobility from one
place to another, and ending with his attempts to deny,
sometimes, by fat skin colors of mud, and dyes primitive or
wears leather of animal or bird feathers.

15- Bedouin Glorifies Speech and Like Magic:

Verbal activity (word) admires the Bedouin, and makes
its practitioners occupy a high place in the Bedouin
Communities. If we take the Arab Bedouin as an
example, we find poets, preachers and keepers of
genealogy and heritage, occupy the greatest places,
where they have leadership and prestige together.
TREATIES WITH THE BRITISH:
At the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century the region
has seen the emergence of new powers.

Relations with the British and the discovery of oil

continued that process.
The Gulf has always been relatively cosmopolitan, and
its port cities have included Arab from Iraq, and
merchants, in addition to tribal Arabs.
The dominant Arab tribes have accommodated many of
these groups, and those who arrived in the region before
1930 became full citizens of the Gulf States, albeit without
the connections of tribal Arabs.
The tremendous influx since 1950s, however, has caused
the naturally restrictive nature of tribal society to reassert it
to prevent a further dilution of tribal identities.
Arab countries have had a considerable influence on the
future of the region:

First:
the Bani Yas tribe from which the AL Nahyan and
AL Maktoum, and was able to control the lower area of
the Gulf, including the regions where they held the cities
of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Second
AL-Qawasim power took the form of the tribe who formed
the denominators Navy exceeded its Part of the Gulf to
the depths of the Indian Ocean and started dealing with
fleets and ships of the British capital Ras Al Khaimah.
However, in (1819 AD) and after the occupation of Ras Al
Khaimah, British completely dominated the water of the
Gulf, and was the last uprising of the Arab powers of the
Bani Yas tribe, attacked and destroyed a British Cruiser
in the movement of revenge in (1834 AD) which called on
Britain to conclude a series of agreement with Trucial
Coast in (1892 AD).
The increased European presence resulted in large part
from widespread AL-Qawasim in the early nineteenth
century.
The British asked the sultan in Oman, to whom owed
nominal allegiance, to end it.
When the sultan proved unable, British ships launched
attacks on AL-Qawasim strongholds in the present-day
UAE as early as 1809; the navy did not succeed in
controlling the situation until 1819.
In that year, the British sent a fleet from India that
destroyed the main base at Ras al Khaymah, (Galfar)
al AL-Qawasim port at the southern end of the Gulf.
From Ras al Khaymah, the British fleet destroyed
Qawasim ships along both sides of the Gulf.
In 1820 AD the British seemed primarily interested in
controlling the AL-Qawasim, whose main centers were
Ras al Khaymah, Ajman, and Sharjah, which were all
small ports along the southeastern Gulf coast
The British had no desire to take over the desolate areas
along the Gulf; they only wished to secure the area so
that it would not pose a threat to shipping to and from their
possessions in India.
The British decided to leave in power those tribal leaders
who had not been conspicuously involved with piracy; they
concluded a series of treaties in which those leaders
promised to suppress all piracy.
As a result of these truces, the Arab side of the Gulf came
to be known as the "Trucial coast."
This area had previously been under the nominal control
of the sultan in Oman, although the Trucial coast tribes
were not part of the Ibadi imamate.
The area has also been referred to as "Trucial Oman" to
distinguish it from the part of Oman under the sultan that
was not bound by treaty obligation.
 The original treaties, however, also involved Dubai and
Bahrain.
The inclusion of these ports brought two other extended
families, the Bani Yas and the Al Khalifa, into the Trucial
system.
During the next 100 years, the British signed a series of
treaties having wide-ranging provisions with other tribes in
the Gulf.
As a result, by the end of World War I, leaders from
Oman to Iraq had essentially yielded control of their
foreign relations to Britain.
Abu Dhabi entered into arrangements similar to those of
Dubai and Bahrain in 1835 AD, Kuwait in 1899 AD, and
Qatar in 1916 AD.
The treaty whose terms convey the most representative
sense of the relationship between Britain and the Gulf
States was the Exclusive Agreement of 1882 AD.
This text specified that the signatory Gulf States
(members of the present-day UAE) could not make any
international agreements or host any foreign agent without
British consent.
The British wished to maintain security on the route from
Europe to India so that merchants could safely send
goods between India and the Gulf.
Britain also sought to exclude the influence in the area of
other powers, such as Turkey and France.
And then charged the British Government of defense
and foreign relations of the Arabian Gulf to the East
Indian Company to the Year 1873 AD .
Then transferred these responsibilities to the Government
of British India and continued the case to the
independence of India in 1947 AD, has signed on the
responsibility of the British Foreign Office and that was it
supported a resident of Bahrain, and political agents in
Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Qatar before that year 1948
AD.
Political agent in Sharjah, where the Air Base and the
situation continues even while independence from Britain
in 1971 .
In (1966 AD), received His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin
Sultan Al Nahyan . (My God have mercy on him) as
Ruler of Abu Dhabi in a time of growing conviction that
the establishment of the Emirates each region is the
imperative nature of contemporary history.
 Chapter - 3
Development Theories
What Does Represent to the GCC
Countries?
Development is the set of relations among people, including
their social status and roles.
By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country,
sometimes even the world, taken as a whole.
Used in the sense of an association, a society is a body of
individuals outlined by the bounds of functional
interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as
national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language or
hierarchical organization.
Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships
between individuals sharing a distinctive culture and
institutions.

Like other communities or groups, a society allows its members

to achieve needs or wishes they could not fulfill alone.
Those interested in the history of nations, from the ancient ages
till the present time would realize that the growth of nations in a
distinctive manner relies upon how interested people are in
education and culture as propelling factor for achieving
progress.
In order for us to be an integral element of the civilization, we
have to make sure our culture is reliant on sold knowledge and
education.
The yard stick by which progress is measured, is the
achievement in culture and science.
It is an incessant movement towards a bright future a wide
horizon.
Development means that practical efforts to invest and
mobilize all resources, human and material resources to
achieve the objectives of the community.

Development was defined as:

“All the processes and efforts that are planned and designed
to produce a sequence of social and economic changes
intended and designed to increase the overall welfare of
members of society, and take the society from a social and
economic status is set to better.”

Development identified as;

“The goal of general and comprehensive dynamic process
occurring in the community and find their manifestation in
the series of structural and functional changes that affect
components of society.
This process is dependent on controlling the size and quality of
material and human resources available to reach their fullest
possible use, to the maximum period of feasible in order to
achieve economic prosperity and social objectives for the
majority of members of the community.”

More broadly, a society is an economic, social or industrial

infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals.
Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups...

The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary

association of people for religious, benevolent, cultural,
scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.
A "society" may even, though more by means of metaphor
refer to a social organism such as an ant colony.
According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, one critical
novelty in human society, in contrast to humanity's closest
biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobo), is the parental
role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their "father"
connection.
Sociologist Gerhard Lenski differentiates societies based on
their level of technology, communication and economy:
1-Hunters and gatherers,
2-simple agricultural,
3-Advanced agricultural,
4-Industrial,
5-Special (e.g. fishing societies or maritime societies).
This is somewhat similar to the system earlier developed by
Anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and
Elman Service, an integration theorist, who have produced
a system of classification for societies in all human cultures
based on the evolution of social inequality and the role of the
state.

This system of classification contains four categories:

1= Hunter-gatherer bands (categorization on duties and
responsibilities.)
2= Tribal societies in which there are some limited instances of
social rank and prestige.
3= Stratified structures led by chieftains.
4= Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized,
institutional governments.
In addition to this there are:
Humanity, mankind that upon which rest all the elements of
society, including society's beliefs .
Virtual society is a society based on online identity, which is
evolving in the information age.
Over time, some cultures have progressed toward more-
complex forms of organization and control.
This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of
community.
1-Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food stocks to
become agrarian villages.
2-Villages grew to become towns and cities.
3-Cities turned into city-states and nation-states.
Today, anthropologists and many social scientists vigorously
oppose the notion of cultural evolution and rigid "stages"
such as these.
In fact, much anthropological data has suggested that
complexity (civilization, population growth and density,
specialization, etc.) does not always take the form of
hierarchical social organization or stratification.

Also, cultural relativism as a widespread approach/ethic has

largely replaced notions of "primitive," better/worse, or
"progress" in relation to cultures (including their material
culture/technology and social organization).

Civil society
Is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social
organizations and institutions that form the basis of a
functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of
a state (regardless of that state's political system) and
commercial institutions of the market .

There are myriad definitions of civil society in the post-

modern sense.
The London School of Economics Centre for Civil Society's
working definition is illustrative:

Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action

around shared interests, purposes and values.
In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the
state, family and market.
Though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society,
family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated.

Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors

and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality,
autonomy and power.
Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as: -
registered charities, development non-governmental
organizations, community groups, women's
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional
associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social
movements, business associations, coalitions and
advocacy groups.

The process of Development is a Social Action directed

towards creating structural transformations which would lead to
the formation of the basic foundation and the launching of self-
production capacity.
This would enhance the average productivity of the individual
as well as the capacity of community within a framework of
social relations.
The idea of effort and reward is asserted and the participation in
providing of the basic needs and the safeguarding of the
individual social and national security is ensured.
To understand well the Process of Development we have to
go through the following Theories of Development.

Development theories
Is a conglomeration of theories about how desirable change in
society is best to be achieved?
Such theories draw on a variety of social scientific disciplines
and approaches.
1= Modernization Theory

Is a theory of development which states that the development

can be achieved through following the processes of development
that were used by the currently developed countries.

Scholars such as Walt Rostow and A.F.K. Organski developed

stages of development through which every country develops.
Samuel Huntington determined development to be a

Linear process which every country must go through .

Modernization Theory, in contrast to Classical Liberalism,

viewed the state as a central actor in modernizing
"backward" or "underdeveloped" societies.
Talcott Parsons' action theory defined the qualities that
distinguished "modern" and "traditional" societies.
1-Education was viewed as key to creating modern individuals.

2-Technology played a key role in this development theory

because it was believed that as technology was developed and
introduced to lesser developed countries it would spur
Economic Growth.

One key factor in Modernization Theory is the belief that

development requires the assistance of developed countries to
aid developing countries to learn from their development.
In addition, it was believed that the lesser developed countries
would develop and grow faster than developed countries.
Thus, this theory is built upon the theory that it is possible for
equal development to be reached between the developed and
lesser developed countries.

2= Dependency theory
While Modernization Theory understood development and
underdevelopment as a result from internal conditions that
differ between economies,

Dependency theory understood development and

underdevelopment as relational.

It saw the world's nations as divided into a core of wealthy

nations which dominate a periphery of poor nations whose
main function in the system is to provide cheap labor and raw
materials to the core.

Dependency theory shared many points with Rosa

Luxembourg's and V.I. Lenin's earlier, Marxist, theories of
imperialism; and dependency theory was embraced by many
Marxists and neo-Marxists.

Dependency theorists held that for underdeveloped nations

to develop, they must break their ties with developed nations
and pursue internal growth.
One type of policy crafted from this insight was Import
substitution industrialization.

3= World systems theory

 In response to some of the criticisms of Dependency Theory
came World Systems Theory, which the division of
periphery and center was further divided into a remodel system
consisting of the core, semi-periphery and periphery.

In this system, the semi-periphery lies between the core and

periphery and is exploited by the core and exploits the
periphery.
This division aims to explain the industrialization within lesser
developed countries.

World Systems Theory was initiated by Immanuel

Wallerstein in, among other writings, World Systems
Analysis and focuses on inequality as a separate entity from
growth in development and examines change in the global
capitalist system.

One distinguishing feature of this theory is distrust for the state

and a view in which the state is seen as a group of elites and that
industrialization cannot be equated with development.

Out of this theory stem anti-systemic movements which attempt

to reverse the terms of the system's inequality through social
democratic and labor movements.

4= State Intervention theory

In response to the distrust of the state in World Systems
Theory, is state intervention theory.
State Intervention Theory is based upon the view that the
economy is intertwined with politics and therefore the take-off
period in development is unique to each country.

State Intervention Theory emphasized the effects of class

relations and the strength and autonomy of the state on historical
outcomes.
Thus, development involves interactions between the state and
social relations because class relations and the nature of the
state impact the ability of the state to function.
Development is dependent upon state stability and influence
externally as well as internally.

State Intervention Theorists believe that a develop

mentalist state is required for development by taking control of
the development process within one state.

5= Uneven and combined development

Is a Marxist concept to describe the overall dynamics of human
history?
It was originally used by the Russian revolutionary Leon
Trotsky around the turn of the 20th century, when he was
analyzing the developmental possibilities that existed for the
economy and civilization in the Russian empire, and the likely
future of the Tsarist regime in Russia.
It was the basis of his political strategy of permanent
revolution, which implied a rejection of the idea that a human
society inevitably developed through a uni-linear sequence of
necessary "stages".
At first, Trotsky intended this concept only to describe a
characteristic evolutionary pattern in the worldwide expansion
of the capitalist mode of production from the 16th century
onwards.
Through the growth of a world market which connected more
and more peoples and territories together through trade,
migration, and investment.
The concept of uneven and combined development to the
whole of human history, and even to processes of
Evolutionary biology, as well as the formation of the Human
personality .
 Chapter -- 4
1- Characteristics of the GCC Countries
On 21st Rajab 1401 A.H corresponding to 25th May 1981, their
Majesties and highnesses, the leaders of the UAE, State of
Bahrain (kingdom of Bahrain) State of Qatar , State of
Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman
met in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where they reached a cooperative
framework joining the six states to effect coordination,
integration and inter-connection among the Member
States in all fields in order to achieve unity, which means
deepening and strengthening of relations, links and areas of
cooperation among their citizens.
Confirm the special relations, common qualities and similar
systems founded on the need of Islam, faith in a common
destiny and sharing one goal, and that the cooperation among
these states would serve the sublime objectives of the Arab
Nation.

The main objectives of the GCC are to effect coordination,

integration and inter-connection between Member
States in all fields, strengthening ties between their peoples,
formulating similar regulations in various fields such as
(economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation,
administration, as well as fostering scientific and technical
progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and
animal resources, establishing scientific research centers
setting up joint ventures, and encouraging cooperation
of the sectors).
The creation of the Gulf Cooperation Council is a
response to the historical, social, cultural, political, and
strategic realities of the Arabian Gulf region past and
present.
 The situation in the region is more critical now than at any
time in the past and regional problems must be solve for
the benefit of the region’s popup.
Following the sum of positive and effective bilateral and
collective steps taken thus far, the natural solidarity
which links the Arab Countries of the Gulf is such that it
warrants a collective framework and deserves to emerge
in more enhanced and perceptible mode for the benefit of
the region’s peoples.
The present age is moving towards larger political and
economic units to preserve stability, security and
progress, and to resolve the rifts which have befallen
many states in other parts of the world, states which have
learnt their lesson after paying a high price in blood,
lives and money.
Such rifts are the result of long- standing and unresolved
regional disputes which waste efforts, energies and
lives.
If the challenges are sufficient to create effective
cooperation in any region in the world, the circumstances
of the Gulf region are more favorable.
Here, we constitute part of a “nationality” with one
religion; we have a common cultural heritage,
common values and customs.
And in view of our geo-political location and our oil wealth,
which exposes us to international political ambitions to a
degree verging on extortion, we are all driven towards joint
cooperation.
The world today stresses the importance of mutual ties
between nations, and, therefore, regional integration in the
gulf will aid and support the aims of the Arab and Muslim
nations; it will become more pressing and there will be a
greater domestic desire for it in this historical period.
The effective mobilization of resources and skills in the
building of the Gulf region will lead to consolidation and
will carry this Arab region to horizons of balanced
development, thereby, benefiting the entire population of
the region in particular and the Arabs in general.
The challenges confronting the region have multiplied with
the increasing need of the industrial world for oil.

Gulf integration has become the crucial factor in a new

and comprehensive orientation towards formulation social
and economic policy by which the region is kept away
from international ambitions to establish a foothold in an
integrated region possessing one voice, one opinion and
one force.
Otherwise, a thousand footholds will be created if this
region, rich with oil and human resources, continues to
comprise small entities which are easy prey.

The talk of a “political vacuum” in the region and of

“wealth without owners” would disappear permanently if
the owners of the house would assume their collective
role with firmness and determination.
Together the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council
would be able to have a voice in the international and
regional spheres, a voice which would express their status in
the international economy, a respected and feared voice in their
relations with the west and east, north and south, a voice which
would effectively support the causes of the Arab nation.

Since the dawn of the Arab Liberation Movement following the

Second World War, Arab unity has attracted the attention of the
Arab peoples. It is time for positive steps to be taken on this road
by a region which, since the dawn history, has embraced Islam
and fostered Arabism, a region which bears in its blood the
national interest.

Genuine and difficult tasks are confronting us all and we must

face them collectively.

The oil we rely on today is a diminishing wealth.

Although it has generated enormous wealth in the past decade, it

has also caused immense tensions and changes in the behavior
of our people.

Today, the people of the Gulf are looking towards their

governments to manage this difficult equation of achieving true
and continuous development, on the one hand, and of preserving
social peace, security and progress, on the other.
This equation can only be managed if we study our priorities.

They should be the establishment of comprehensive development

based, on the one hand, on setting up basic structures and a
permanent production base, and, on the other hand, on the
preparation and training of that more important element in our
capital, namely the human.

We have to provide an answer to the question of how to

transform oil wealth into comprehensive and stable development
in the interest of our peoples.

Today, we have the historical opportunity for us to make a choice,

an opportunity which may not be available in the future.

In the past, the germ of revolution lay in development of the naval

compass, explosives and print.

Yet today humanity is being driven towards space and the

development of modern unclear physics, and employs instant
long-range communications.

Those who are left behind will be counted among the backward
states and peoples.

In short, this an age of scientific explosion and age requiring the

use of scientific tools in political, economic, industrial and
educational matters .

One of the priorities of organized scientific thinking is for us in this

region to achieve real and comprehensive integration of the
economic, social and political sectors. These are the
challenges before us.

Through sound plans for the integration of our countries and our
peoples, we are able to confront these challenges, safeguard our
human and material investments and bring about full development
for our peoples through just and wise distribution.

Likewise, we as a group are able to participate in the efforts

towards world peace, a peace which hangs in the balance.
 In order to achieve and implement these aims:
The council has decided to set up committees, as detailed below,
comprising the relevant ministers.

These committees will have ad hoc tasks and will work in

coordination and cooperation with the General Secretariat.

They will begin their work according to the schedule proposed by

the General Secretary.

1-The committee for Social and economic

Planning:
This committee will undertake to find common areas of action in
economic and social planning and will constantly coordinate them,
with the goal of attaining harmony between the national economic
plans of these states and of laying foundations for developing
future integrated planning, in order to achieve economic
integration between Member States.

2 – The committee for Financial, economic

and Commercial Cooperation:
This committee will undertake the study of methods that will
ensure financial and economic cooperation in the light of the
general goal of joint economic action. Its concerns shall include
the following:

I-Financial and Monetary Cooperation .

A-To work towards the unification of regulations and laws

regarding investment in order to reach the formulation of a joint
investment policy aimed at directing internal and external Gulf
investments to serve the interest of these states and the
aspiration of their peoples for developing and progress,

B-To coordinate banking and monetary policies and increase

coordination between the financial institutions and central banks
of the region’s states in order to create a single Gulf currency,
which will complement the economic integration desired.

C-To coordinate foreign financial and monetary policies of

member States in the area of the provision of international and
regional aids for development.

II- The Movement of Moneys and Individuals, and

Engagement in Economic Activity .

A-To lay the foundations that will ensure the subjects of the Gulf
Cooperation Council in any of these states receive the same
treatment as their own citizens, without distinction or
discrimination, and in accordance with the consensus in the
following areas:

1- Freedom of movement, work and residency;

2- Freedom of ownership, inheritance and bequest,
3- Freedom to engage in economic activity.

B-To work towards the removal of obstacles preventing the

movement of resources, capital and all elements of production,
and to coordinate and unify the commercial, financial and
customs regulations and legislation so that the citizens of
members states receive similar treatment in all other states;

C-To encourage the private sector in member states to set up

joint projects and companies, leading to the establishment of ties
linking the economic interests of citizens in various areas.

III-Commercial Exchange:
 To work Exchange:

A-The removal of customs obstacles in GCC member states with

regard to their products and to work towards a unified customs
rate between these states and the outside world.

B-The implementation of the principle of full customs exemption

with regard to domestic products of member states and the
principle that their products be treated as national commodities.

C-The coordination of policies on importing exporting and food

storage.

D-The creation of collective negotiating force in the area of

imports and exports.

IV- Transport and Communications:

A-To cooperate in the fields of marine and land transport and

communications, to coordination in the establishment of
infrastructure projects such as ports, airports, water and electrical
power stations and roads, and to supports and develop existing
institutions in these areas between member states.

B-To work towards coordinating aviation policies and avail

transport between the GCC states on various levels.

3-The Committee for Industrial Cooperation:

This body will undertake the following:

A-To coordinate industrial activity among member states by

formulating policies and proposing the means that will lead to the
industrial transformation of member states on an integrated basis,
achieving maximum benefits for each state and providing
prosperity and tranquility for all their peoples.
B-To study the unification of industrial legislation and regulations
in member states.

C-To work to increase the focus of domestic production

agencies on meeting the needs of member states.

D-To prepare regulations and arrangements for the import of

technology and expertise and for the selection of the most
appropriate of these in the light of development requirements of
member states.

E-To distribute industry throughout the territories of member

states by encouraging the establishment of industry
complementary to the basic projects distributed among member
states, in accordance with their relative advantages and economic
benefits.

F-To formulate polices and implement coordinated programmers

among member states for technical, professional and vocational
training and qualifications at all levels and stages.

4- The oil Committee:

This committee will be composed of foreign, petroleum and
finance ministers and will undertake the following;

A-To work to coordinate the polices of member states in the

petroleum industry at all its stages, including drilling, refining,
marketing, manufacturing, pricing, transport, the exploitation of
natural gas and the development of energy resources;

B-To formulate a unified oil policy and common stances towards

the outside world and within the relevant organizations and
international organizations.
 5- The committee for Social and Cultural
Services:
This Committee will be entrusted with uncovering areas of
common action in upbringing, education, health, work, and social
and cultural affairs, and will lay down the foundations for the
harmonization and integration of these fields.

The Application:
In every meeting the Council reviewed the steps which have
been implemented in accordance with the economic agreement,
the council has approved the following:

1-The agriculture policy of GCC states.

2-The united strategy for industrial development

3-The Aims and methods of culture and education.

4-The general polices and principles for the protection of the

environment
In the harmony with that the supreme Council has approved
the following:=
1-To allow the citizens of GCC states to own shares in joint-
stock companies and new ones which are operating in economic
activities in accordance with the proposed rules?

2-To treat the citizens of GCC states in tax matters in a way

equal to the treatment of citizens of a member state in which
investment is made

3-A system of encouraging the growing national industries.

4-The regional emergency plan for petroleum products
among GCC states.

5-To give the citizens of GCC states the same treatment in the
area of health services given to the citizens of a member state
in which they reside.

2- Geographical Perspective of GCC Countries.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1- First Saudi State (1744–1818)

2- Second Saudi State (1824–1891)
3- 1900 and after:
 4- Third Saudi State Declared January 8, 1926 and
Recognized: May 20, 1927
5- United Kingdom: September 23 , 1932
6- Area: 2,250,000 Km2
7- Population: 29.994,272
8- Nationals : 67.6%
9- Expatriates : 32.4%
10-Capital: Riyadh
Area occupying four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi
Arabia is the largest country on the peninsula.
Located in the south-western corner of Asia, Saudi Arabia
covers an area of about 2,240,000 square kilometers or
864,900 square miles (estimates vary) of which more than
half is desert.

The country is bordered by the Red Sea and the Gulf of

Aqaba to the west, by the Republic of Yemen and the
Sultanate of Oman to the south, the Arabian Gulf, the
United Arab Emirates and Qatar to the east, and Jordan,
Iraq and Kuwait to the north.

The richest oil fields in the world are found in the eastern
region.
Riyadh, the capital and largest city, is located in the east
central region of the country.

Jeddah, the second largest city, is the country's main port on

the Red Sea.
It is also the main port through which pilgrims enter to
perform Umrah, Haj, or to visit the holy cities of Mecca and
Medina.

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family.

The Al Saud dynasty dates back to the mid-18th century

with Mohammed bin Saud, who was the ruler of Diriyyah in
central Arabia.

The late King Abdul’ Aziz Al Saud founded the modern

Saudi state, established 23 September 1932. The written
constitution and bill of rights were introduced during the
1982-2005 reign of King Fahd bin Abdul’ Aziz Al Saud.
Since August 2005, Saudi Arabia has been ruled by King
Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
Oil is the most important industry in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom has the world's largest proven reserves and is

the largest producer in OPEC, totaling one-third of output.

Saudi Arabia has the capacity to produce 10 million barrels

per day (bpd).

Working toward diversifying its economy, the Kingdom is

promoting heavy industry, such as petrochemicals,
fertilizers, and steel.

Traditionally fishing and agriculture were sources of

revenue for the Kingdom and today Saudi Arabia is one of
the world's leading producers of dates and the fishing
industry continues to grow.

Kingdom of Bahrain
1- Bahrain get independence from Portugal 1602,from Persia
1783 ,from United Kingdom December 16,1971
2- The
total

area : 765 Km2

3- Population estimate: 1,343,000.
4- Nationals: 51.1%.
5- Expatriates: 48.9 %.
6- Capital: Manama
An archipelago of thirty-three islands, the largest island,
Bahrain (from the Arabic word for "two seas"), is believed
to have separated from the Arabian Peninsula around 6000
BC.
Located in the Arabian Gulf, the islands are about twenty-
four kilometers from the east coast of Saudi Arabia and
twenty-eight kilometers from Qatar.
The total area of the islands is about 678 square kilometers
or 262 square miles (estimates vary).

The capital, Manama, is located on the northeastern tip of

the island of Bahrain.

The main port, Mina Salman, and the major petroleum

refining facilities and commercial centers are also located on
the island.

Causeways and bridges connect Bahrain to adjacent islands

and to the mainland of Saudi Arabia.

Al Muharraq, the second largest island, is linked to Bahrain

by the oldest causeway, originally constructed in 1929. The
country's second largest city, Al Muharraq, and the
international airport are located there.
Bahrain is an independent state with a traditional
monarchy.
On 14 February 2002, a new constitution was published and
Bahrain declared itself a kingdom.

The ruling family of Bahrain, the Al Khalifa, arrived in the

islands in the mid-18th century after they first established a
settlement in the peninsula of present-day Qatar.

Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is the King, and has ruled
Bahrain since 6 March 1999.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa is the prime minister.
In February 2001, proposals for political reform put
forward by the ruling family received almost unanimous
support in a national referendum.

The proposals are due to come into effect in 2004, and will
mean that Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy with
an elected lower chamber of parliament and an independent
judiciary.

Oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Bahrain in

June 1932.

The first Gulf state to discover oil, it was also the first to
reap the benefits that came with the revenues, in particular a
marked improvement in the quality of education and health
care.

By Gulf standards, Bahrain’s oil reserves are quite small. To

decrease its reliance on oil revenues, the government is
striving to diversify Bahrain’s economy by attracting more
commercial companies, particularly in the IT field.

Kuwait
1- First settlement 1613
2- Bani Utbah tribe foundation 1705
3- Anglo-ottoman Convention 1913
4- Independence from the United kingdom 19 June 1961
5- Area : 17.820 Km2
 6- Population : 4,044,500
7- Nationals : 31.5%
8- Expatriates : 68.9%
9- Capital: Kuwait City

Kuwait is located in the northeastern corner of the Arabian

Peninsula.
Bordered by Iraq on the north, northwest and by Saudi
Arabia on the south, southwest, it fronts the Arabian Gulf to
the east.
 A small state of 17,818 square kilometers (6,880 square
miles), Kuwait includes nine gulf islands within its territory.

In addition to being the country's capital and center for

trade and commerce, Kuwait City is an important port for
oil and the production of petroleum products.

The nearby city of Al Jahrah is the center of the country's

agricultural industry, which primarily produces fruits and
vegetables.

A prominent geographic feature is Kuwait Bay, which

extends for 48 kilometers (30 miles) inland.

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy governed by the Al

Sabah family, the ruling family since 1756.

The constitution, which was approved on 11 November 1962,

authorizes the Al Sabah family council to select the emir,
traditionally from the Al Sabah line.
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah is the current
Emir of Kuwait. Crude oil and refined products account for
most of the country's exports.

The reserves of crude oil are estimated to be 10% of the

world total, the third largest quantity in the world.
Kuwait's other main industries include desalination, food
processing, and the manufacturing of building materials,
which include plastics, cement, and metal pipes.
 State of Qatar
1- Current ruling family came to power December 18,1878
2- Termination of special treaty with the United Kingdom
September 3, 1971
3- Area: 11,437 Km2
4- Population: 2,155,446
5- Nationals : 14,3%
6- Expatriates : 85,7%
7- Capital: Doha
Qatar occupies a peninsula, which extends northward for
about 180 kilometers (100 miles) into the Arabian Gulf from
the Arabian Peninsula.

The country is bordered to the south by Saudi Arabia for a

stretch of 56 kilometers or 35 miles.

The total area of Qatar is 11,437 square kilometers or 4,260

square miles. Doha, the capital city, is located on the east
coast.
A traditional monarchy, the State of Qatar is ruled by the Al
Thani family.
The Al Thani family arrived in Qatar in the early part of the
18th century, originally settling in the northern region of the
country, and moving to Doha in the mid-19th century.

Sheikh Tamim Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has been emir

since early 2013 .
In 1999 the country's first elections were held, to elect a 29-
member municipal council.

Women were allowed to vote and stand for office in this

election.
The State of Qatar produces less than 1% of the world's oil
output. Crude oil and liquefied natural gas account for
about 80% of the country's exports.

The banking sector also plays an important role in Qatar's

economy.
 Sultanate of Oman
1- Constitution: 1966
2- Area : 309,550 Km2
3- Population : 4,055,418
4- Nationals : 56.6 %
5- Expatriates : 43.4%
6- Capital: Muscat
Occupying the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula,
the Sultanate of Oman covers an area of about 212,457
square kilometers (82,030 square miles); however, estimates
do vary considerably.
Oman proper is bordered by Yemen to the southwest, Saudi
Arabia to the west, the United Arab Emirates to the
northwest, the Gulf of Oman to the north, and by the
Arabian Sea to the east and south.

Included in its territory is Ruus al Jibal ("The

Mountaintops"), which is located on the northern tip of the
Musandam Peninsula (Ras Musandam).

It borders the Strait of Hormuz, which is a waterway linking

the Gulf of Oman with the Arabian Gulf, and separated
from the rest of Oman by a strip of territory belonging to the
United Arab Emirates.

Thanks to its location at the mouth of the Gulf, Oman has

long been seen as strategically important.

At one time, its territory stretched down the East African

coast and it competed against Portugal and Britain for
influence in the Gulf.
Muscat, the capital of Oman since 1741, is located on the
Gulf of Oman coast.

The country was known as Muscat and Oman until 1970.

Oman is a monarchy.

The ruling family, the Al Said, first came to rule in 1744

after the expulsion of the Iranians from Muscat.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said has ruled since 1970.

The sultan also holds the posts of prime minister, minister of
defiance, minister of foreign affairs, and minister of finance.

There is a Council of State for consultation purposes. 

Oman’s principal natural resources are petroleum and
natural gas.

The proved petroleum reserves (4 billion barrels) are not

substantial, and the government is aiming to transform
Oman into a major natural gas exporter.

Manufacturing is growing in importance.

Major products include textiles, cement blocks, furniture,

fertilizers, and fiberglass products.

Chapter; 5
Quality of life , Population,Labour,Employment &
human Capital

1- Quality of Life
The winds began to change the contemporary social life in the
Gulf region in general, with the start of attempts by Western
Firms to obtain concessions for oil exploration and extraction
and export and the large revenues, especially in the UAE society
after the society was suffering from all forms of economic
downturn, also contributed to these companies in the open new
business and earnings for a large number of Gulf society and
those who achieve their file in search of work.
With the onset of oil production and exports increased entry of
large numbers of Gulf nationals and flourish with all forms of
economic activity and the period of social change, take the
features of interaction of internal factors have contributed in
bringing this change.
With enormous oil revenues began flowing to semi-nomadic
society and expended areas of expenditure, both at the state level
or at the level of individuals and patterns of consumption have
changed so much and upset the balance of the distribution of
wealth and created new social relations and changed the
demographics as well as infrastructure and superstructure of
society and replace them with new values based on new.
Change did not in values and behavior, but also the social
structure in other populations, both in terms of immigrants and
new residents, and then the installation procedure for the
population and in term of occupational mobility within these
societies, and the social environment where the class has
changed the modern economy has produced new classes and
class.
The oil far-reaching impact in the society representing the
shake-up in the various aspects of civilized life, after the society
was suffering from isolation and deprived of the fruits of
modern civilization in education, health, culture, electricity and
water services is now enjoyed all these advantages, has also
become available to hand to take advantage of the effects of the
material culture of the modern age of technology, but at the
same time are suffering from the manifestations of the
dissolution of the tribe and weaknesses.
Large numbers of citizens of the Gulf region flourished all
forms of economic activity and the period of social change takes
features as a result of internal factors and external interaction
contributed in bringing about change factors such as:
1- Construction of roads.
2- Building schools, hospitals and housing.
3- Building of mosques and cultural and social clubs and
sports.
4- Building ports and airports.
5- Opening of the TV stations, and the multiplicity of channels
and programs. Issuance of daily newspapers and weekly
magazines
6- Multi-area economic activity and the emergence of new
areas of work in the society.
Facilitate innovative areas of work for large numbers of
citizens
7- The emergence of different kinds of goods in the market,
including luxury goods and goods that require use modern
patterns of behavior new to the society.
8- To bring theater and concerts in all social and religious
occasions, national and global as well as seminars and
lectures.
9- Establishing according to the hotels, cinemas and places of
recreation.
 The result of this changes on the Family system and the
Quality of life many problems including;
1- The demographic imbalance.
2- Problems of servants and nannies.
3- The problems of juvenile delinquency
4- Change the pattern of marriage.
5- Family tend to a life of extravagance and luxury
6- Weakening of family ties.

Nevertheless, the contemporary social change in the

Gulf Region many positive aspects, especially on the Family
Life.
1- Widened the horizons of knowledge of the vast majority of
the members of the society.
2- Is a stable family in the Gulf region to provide healthy yet
have means of modern medicine in health care.
3- Available and facilitated by means of education for all
children of the family both general education or industrial,
agricultural, commercial religious and adult education and
eradication end extended to the university and beyond
which led to:
A- Improving the level of awareness of food, health and
hygiene requirements and therefore dominated the
habits of many fit the spirit of development and
prosperity.
B- Start interest of time and value in family life and
work.
C- Increased behavioral patterns within the home so that
include the style, quality modern furniture.
 D- Numerous and functions of the family and the one
followed by the multiplicity of their experiences.
4- Women emerged in society to contribute to its efforts in the
development requirements of new roles and multiple, and
emerged in the fields and began working as volunteer
efforts in the activity of women’s associations.
5- Known to the society new images of areas of social
welfare and realized the importance of the use, such as
social institutions that dealt with all aspects of family care
in her life.
6- Enjoyed the spirit of family stability for its members, which
became the majority of couples working in areas that are
stable.
7- Relative appreciation has become prominent feature of the
working women and the necessary for her participation in
the performance of some work.

2- Population
“Population growth has been driven by expatriate
immigration and it is natural that this has been highest in
the countries that have relatively small national
populations relative to their oil wealth, while countries like
Saudi Arabia and Oman have seen more moderate levels
of expatriate growth.
The report gave no population breakdown for GCC
members but that of Saudi Arabia was officially put at
27.1 million in 2010, including about eight million
foreigners.
 It is projected to have risen to 27.9 million at the end of
2011.
The UAE had around 8.2 million people at the end of 2010
while Kuwait’s population was estimated at nearly 3.5
million.
Oman’s population was close to three million while
Bahrain and Qatar had just over 1.5 million people each.

Combined, the six GCC states have a population of

around 43.2 million, roughly half of Egypt's total
population.
More Specific,

Saudi Arabia 27.4 million

* United Arab Emirates 7.5 million
* Kuwait 2.7 million
* Oman 2.7 million
* Qatar 1.7 million
* Bahrain 1.2 million
The rapidly expanding young population of the GCC states has
great potential to support further economic growth.
Demographic trends tend to change slowly and population totals
are often seen as being among the easier economic indicators to
predict.

However, population growth in the GCC is heavily driven by

immigration trends, with expatriates making up 42% of the
region’s population in 2009, according to Economist
Intelligence Unit estimates.

This makes population totals less predictable.

We have therefore prepared three different scenarios based on

different outlooks for the expatriate workforce.

This generation will be increasingly well-educated and IT-

literate, with a greater proportion of female workers, and should
have the potential to help to diversify the GCC economies away
from their traditional dependence on natural resources.
However, the Gulf economies will remain heavily dependent on
expatriate labor for the foreseeable future.
To some extent, this is a function of the small size of the
indigenous populations in most of the GCC States.

Even though the national skills base is being improved,

countries will need to draw on the international talent pool if
they are to build world-class professional services and
knowledgebase industries.

However, GCC countries are also keen to reduce the extent to

which they depend on foreign labor, and to improve
employment opportunities for nationals.
Efforts in this regard have been under way for around three
decades in some Gulf countries—suggesting that the issue will
not be fully resolved even by 2020.

Education reforms will remain a focus of government policy,

with increasing attention paid to pre-secondary education and to
English-language skills, without which nationals will not be
able to take full advantage of the increasing number of foreign
private universities and colleges in the Gulf.
The expansion and improvement of education is likely to have
profound social effects.

In particular, the widening range of educational opportunities

for women is likely to encourage more GCC women to work,
taking up jobs in a greater range of sectors than in the past,
although there will be heated debates about the extent to which
this is culturally appropriate.
Nonetheless, education reforms alone will not be sufficient to
make a major change to the structure of the GCC labor force, as
skills shortages are not the only reason that private-sector
employers generally prefer to recruit expatriates.
Issues of cost, productivity, work ethic and the balance between
worker and employer rights all contribute to this preference for
expatriates.
Some of these issues will be tackled by new government
policies.
But those policies are likely to be resisted by businesses, which
tend to prefer the status quo in the labor market and which often
enjoy a close relationship with policymakers.

Governments will therefore face a difficult balancing act over

the coming decade, and no single GCC labor policy is likely to
be forthcoming.
The GCC’s population is already largely urbanized, and this
will remain the case, but will add to the pressure on urban
infrastructure and housing.

Where space permits, some governments will attempt ease the

pressure on existing cities by developing new ones, such as the
“economic cities” in Saudi Arabia.
Land reclamation is also likely to continue.
GCC Population: core scenario by country

Year 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Average annual change 2.80 3.44 3.40 2.80 2.40
Over previous five years

Saudi Arabia 20.47 23.12 26.18 29.59 33 .34

Kuwait 2.23 2.99 3.58 4.40 5.20

UAE 3.24 4.61 5.57 6.44 7.06

Bahrain 0.64 0.89 1.18 1.45 1.66

Oman 2.40 2.51 3.11 3.32 3.53

Qatar 0.64 0.97 1.82 2.33 2.79

Total (m) 29.63 35.08 41.45 47.52 53.41

Sources: IMF; individual country statistical agencies (historical data); Economist

Intelligence Unit long-term forecasts.

(Our population growth estimates are based on separate projections for each GCC
state and population growth is projected to be higher in some of the smaller
countries.)

Employment

Many expect globalization to lead to an increase in international

migration, which like capital flows and trade offers potential
gains to both the host country and the country of origin.

This is so because the flow of labor improves the welfare of the

migrants through higher earning income, their countries of
origin through remittances, and the flow of labor benefits the
host countries by providing them with the skills they need at
lower cost.
The experience of the GCC during the last three decades is one
example of this phenomenon.

Following the quadrupling of oil prices in the early 1970s,

The GCC countries embarked on ambitious development

schemes which could not have been implemented without the
migrant labor force that began to pour into the region from all
countries.
The GCC’s demographic trends point to a growing labor force.
Expatriate workers are likely to continue to make up the
majority of the private-sector workforce over the 11-year
forecast period.
A massive expansion of education spending is under way
throughout the GCC as governments try to address skills
shortages, lay the groundwork for economic diversification and
improve employment opportunities for nationals.

Such efforts should start to bear fruit over the next 10-11 years.
However, the GCC economies are likely to remain dependent
on expatriate labor.

Skills shortages are only part of the reason.

Employers also tend to prefer expatriates because of their

lower wage costs, higher productivity and generally better
work ethic, as well as the fact that they are easier to hire.

A few tentative policy measures are under way with the aim of
gradually narrowing the gap in costs and employment rights, but
this gap is likely to remain wide even by 2020.

Meanwhile, the educational system was growing at

unprecedented rate.

Most of these graduates, however, were not equipped with the

skills needed for an occupation where productivity determines
salary and wages.
Instead, they had the presumption, and thus training, for
governmental positions, where wages are not related to
productivity.
As a result, the countries of the region began, in the early 1990s,
to experience a growing unemployment rate among GCC
nationals especially university graduates in a region where
migrant workers contribute the cast majority of both the
employment in the private sector, as well as the employment
rates overall.
The estimates of this structural unemployment among nationals
range between 420,000 and 475,000 national workers for the
GCC region as a whole.

This represents about 4.7% percent of the total labor force and
about 17.8% percent of the total national labor force.
(Girgis, 2000:5).
This open unemployment will, if not solved, be a source of
tension in the region in the years following.

3- Human Capital
Most of the talk about economic and non-economic reforms by
the governments of the GCC countries over the last two decades
is, unfortunately no more than rhetorical statements meant to
contain any kind of opposition and deflect the attention away
from their failures.

However, the GCC region is still lacking a number of crucial

reforms in a number of areas.
 First,
The size of the government in these countries is still large by
international standards, accounting for as much as 60% of GDP
and higher than that of employment.
This predominance of the public sector has impeded the growth
of the private sector and has contributed to inefficiency and
corruption and to a huge bureaucracy.

Even the limited role of the private sector, whose share of total
investment in these economies does not exceed 45% percent, is
concentrated in the non-traded sectors such as housing and real
states at the expense of manufacturing and services.
Second,
Governments are not elected and exercise absolute power on
resources and decisions.

The government subordinates legislative and judiciary power to

that of the executive authority, and the views opposing
government policies either are under suppression or ignored.
Third,
The quality of institutions is low and seems to be deteriorating
over time because of the absence of accountability and
transparency of procedures and policies which often comes with
political participation and the separation of powers.

Finally,
Regardless of the importance of developing a tax system and
privatizing public entities, little has been achieved on these
two fronts in the GCC countries over the last two decades.
This is due to the legitimacy problem faced by these
governments caused by the government’s still using a non-
renewable resource (oil).

These governments do not give their citizens a way to

democratically participate in the day-to-day activities of the
government, nor prepare the citizens for the post-oil era.

Human Resources Development

A-Complete and productive employment of the national work

force in various spheres of work by means of education,
rehabilitation and training.

B-Facilitating employment and transfer of national work force

within the GCC States and creating more work opportunities
for them and replacing immigrant labor with national labor.

C-Recruitment of foreign work force in accordance with legal

standards – both quantitatively and qualitatively – based on real
needs and in consonance with the demands of development,
social stability and demographic homogeneity.

D-Encouraging the citizens to join institutions for technical

education and centers for vocational training and providing the
required men and material to develop such institutions and
centers.
E-Distribution of the workforce in different sectors of the
economy thereby making them more productive and increasing
their participation in development.

F-Activating the role of the private sector in assimilating the

national workforce and developing market mechanisms with a
view to making it more effective in terms of employment of
national work force.

G-Continual review of the educational systems outputs so as to

effect required changes in it in tandem with demands of
development plans and programs.

H- Widening the scope of work for the women of the Gulf

region in appropriate spheres, which do not contradict with
Islamic values and enable them to meet their family needs on the
one hand and those of work on the other.

Chapter: 6
Oil and Development in the GCC Countries
Bedouin Economy in Tradition and Change

The word Bedouin is derived from the Arabic word bawaadin

(sing., Badiya), meaning nomads, and is usually associated with a
camel-herding life in the desert.
The word, therefore, describes an occupation and is not
synonymous with the word tribe (qabila), despite the fact that the
two are often used interchangeably.

The word bawaadin, furthermore, refers not only to camel-herding

but is an elastic term that is understood in relation to hadar, or
settled people.

People from the city, for example, were likely to view villagers as
part of the bawaadin, but the villager would consider only the
nomadic people as bawaadin.

Villagers and nomads, on the other hand, would make a

distinction between shepherds who tend sheep and goats, staying
close by the village, and the Bedouin who raised camels.

"While the physical boundary between the desert and the

rural is strikingly sharp in the Middle East . . ." notes Donald
Cole,

"The boundary between nomadic pastoralist and sedentary

farmer is less precise."

Bedouin and farmers were united in a single social system.

Each relied on the other for critical goods and services to sustain
a way of life; they shared substantial cultural unity.

Tribal loyalties transcend differences in livelihood; many tribes

had both sedentary and nomadic branches.

DISCOVERY OF OIL
At the end of World War I, the Arab states of the Gulf were
weak, with faltering economies and with local rulers who
maintained their autonomy only with British assistance.
The rulers controlled mainly the small port cities and some of the
hinterland.

The sultan in Oman claimed a somewhat larger area, but

resistance to his rule made it difficult for him to exert his authority
much beyond Muscat.

The discovery of oil in the region changed all this.

Oil was first discovered in Iran, and by 1911 a British concern,

the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), was producing oil in
Iran.

The British found oil in Iraq 1920s after World War I.

In 1932 Standard Oil Company of California (Socal) discovered

oil in commercial quantities in Bahrain.

Socal then obtained a concession in Saudi Arabia in 1933 and

discovered oil in commercial quantities in 1938.

A flurry of oil exploration activity occurred in the Gulf in the 1930s

with the United States and Britain competing with one another
for oil concessions.

One reason for the increased activity was that in 1932 the new
Iranian government of Reza Shah Pahlavi revoked APOC's
concession.

Although the shah and the British later agreed on new terms, the
threat of losing Iranian oil convinced the British in particular that
they must find other sources.

The small states of the Arabian Gulf were a natural place to look.
Geological conditions were similar to those in Iran, and, because
of treaties signed between 1820 and 1920, the British had
substantial influence and could restrict foreign access.

Oil exploration did not mean immediate wealth for Arab rulers of
the area.

Although the oil companies struck large deposits of oil in Bahrain

almost immediately, it took longer in other countries to locate finds
of commercial size.

Oman, for instance, was unable to export oil until 1967.

World War II delayed development of whatever fields had been

discovered in the 1930s; so it was not until the 1950s that
countries still technically dependent on Britain for their security
began to earn large incomes.

The oil fields in Kuwait were developed the fastest, and by 1953
that nation had become the largest oil producer in the gulf.

Considerably smaller fields in Qatar came on stream in

commercial quantities in the 1950s, and Abu Dhabi began to
export offshore oil in 1962.

Dubai began to profit from offshore oil deposits in the late 1960s.

Until the 1970s, foreign companies owned and managed the gulf
oil industry.

In most cases, European- and United States-based concerns

formed subsidiaries to work in specific countries, and these
subsidiaries paid fees to the local rulers, first for the right to
explore for oil and later for the right to export the oil.

When the first arrangements were made, local rulers had a weak
bargaining position because they had few other sources of
income and were eager to get revenues from the oil companies
as fast as possible.

Moreover, in 1930 no one knew the size of Gulf oil reserves.

As production increased and the extent of oil deposits became

known, indigenous rulers improved their terms. In the 1950s,
rulers routinely demanded an equal share of oil company profits in
addition to a royalty fee.

By the 1970s, most of the gulf countries, which by then were

independent of British control, bought major shares in the
subsidiary companies that worked within their borders.

By the early 1990s, many of these subsidiaries had

become completely state-owned concerns.
They continued to employ Western experts at the highest
decision making levels, but the local government had
ultimate responsibility and profits.

From Oil Dependence to Diversification

Over the past Four decades the member countries of the

Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
-Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the
United Arab Emirates - have witnessed an unprecedented
economic and social transformation.
Oil proceeds have been used to modernize infrastructure,
create employment, and improve social indicators, while the
countries have been able to accumulate official reserves,
maintain relatively low external debt, and remain important
donors to poor countries.

Life expectancy in the GCC area increased by almost 10 years

to 74 years during 1980–2000, and literacy rates increased by
20 percentage points to about 80% percent over the same
period.

Average per capita income in the GCC countries was estimated

at about $12,000 in 2002, with their combined nominal GDP
reaching close to $340 billion (more than half the GDP of all
Middle Eastern countries).

With very low inflation, overall real economic growth has

averaged 4% percent a year during the past Four decades,
while the importance of non-oil economic activities has grown
steadily, reflecting GCC countries' efforts at economic
diversification.

Moreover, Central Bank International reserves alone in some

GCC countries are equivalent to about 10 months of imports.
This progress has been achieved with an open exchange and
trade system and liberal capital flows, as well as open
borders for foreign labor.

The GCC area has become an important center for regional

economic growth.
Whether the future of oil is threatened or assured, the wise
course of action is to prepare for a day when revenues may not
be sufficient to maintain living standards.

If turns out to be under threat, the development of a non-oil

economy will provide a safety net.

If the optimists turn out of be correct in their view that oil will
continue to have a future for a very long tries.

Nothing will be lost in either case.

Currently, Arab Gulf states seem not only to place

political priority on economic diversification, but also
pursue such a strategy in real terms; this can be shown
by reviewing official statements, development plans,
projects under implementation and actual
investments undertaken by the GCC states (Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE).

The surplus of financial resources in the region since

2000 is a likely impetus for the renewed emphasis on
diversification.

It is furthermore plausible that the current stress on upon

this is motivated by the multiple problems, which arise
from the developmental issues particular to the Oil and
Gas driven economies of the GCC states.

This model relies on the sales of hydro-carbonates, is

state-led and driven by the public sector, emphasizes
wealth distribution, makes extensive use of migrant labor
and is characterize by a significant underdevelopment of
productive assets.

This model thus fails to support the further development

of the GCC states in two important aspects:

Firstly, to generate a stable and sufficient income for the

population and,

Secondly to create job opportunities for the swiftly growing

group of young and well educated people.

Economic diversification is, however, not a new strategy

among the GCC states.

It has been on the political agenda since Oil and Gas became
the main and almost sole income in these countries half a
century ago.

Notable projects like aluminum smelting on Bahrain, the

industrial cities of Yanbu and Jubail (SA), the ports in Dubai
etc. were established in the 1970s with the specific aim of
diversifying the economies by the means of investing oil money
in productive assets.
In this Lecture, diversification will be defined as: (A spread of
the activities of a firm or a country between different types
of products or different markets.)

We will include a more detailed discussion of this and other

definitions of the concept in order to improve the understanding
of diversification in hydrocarbon based economies

Diversification of the economy has been a key plank of UAE

policy ever since the founding of the state in 1971.
Funded from Oil and Gas sales, new investments were made
initially in hydrocarbon and energy-related industries such as
aluminum and petrochemicals.

However, times are changing and dependence on Oil and Gas

has fallen significantly.

As previously mentioned, Dubai’s vibrant economy only

receives a 3% per cent input from Oil and Gas.

Its main businesses are in tourism, transport, trade, construction

and financial services.

On the broader economic front, the strategy document states

that:
“It is important to stress that the UAE government’s strategy of
economic diversification is not misunderstood as simply
‘moving away from Oil and Gas’.

On the contrary, the continued significance of hydrocarbons to

the economy is the means by which a broader diversification
will be achieved and supported, and not the reason it is
necessary.’

It is the UAE government’s stated intention to further develop

its energy sector both in terms of productivity and efficiency.
Another area of economic growth that UAE is fostering is
Tourism.
The Emirate has recently re-branded itself and has made a
series of strong moves to boost its tourism development.

Tourism has already proved to be an important driver of

Dubai’s economy.
The UAE is expecting to attract 11.2 million tourists by 2010,
underlining its successful efforts to boost investment in the
development of the hotel and hospitality industry throughout the
country.