BEFORE OIL17freedoms is that Kuwait’s parliament has, especially in recent years, used
its power to block foreign investment and development. The resulting
economic stagnation has trimmed the Kuwaiti swagger, leaving the one-
time frontrunner trailing its newly ascendant neighbors.
Some scholars argue that Kuwait’s political freedoms arise from its
long tradition of merchant power and autonomy.^12 More recent work
argues that its pluralism is the result of Kuwait’s unfortunate location
next to Iraq, an aggressive neighbor that harbored claims to the entire
national territory. The American political scientist Michael Herb main-
tains that the al- Sabah would never have invited citizens to participate
in politics if the family had not needed to rally the populace against Iraqi
intimidation.^13 Iraq first threatened to invade at the time of independence
and, three decades later, made good on that threat. In 1990, Saddam Hus-
sein’s army overran Kuwait, triggering an international outcry. In 1991,
a US- led international coalition of 700,000 troops pushed the Iraqis out
and restored the al- Sabah and their parliamentary rivals to power, ensur-
ing the political stalemate would continue.
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATESThe United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven semiautonomous
sheikhdoms: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al- Quwain, Ras
al- Khaimah, and Fujairah (figure 1.2). Before oil, these lands were the
most desolate corner of a desolate region— among the most poor,
secluded, and sparsely settled areas of the Gulf. The Maine- sized terri-
tory was so inhospitable that the population hovered at roughly 80,000
for more than a millennium, from the arrival of Islam in AD 630 until
the 1930s.^14
The disparate lands that became the UAE were dominated in the
nineteenth century by the seafaring city- states of Sharjah and Ras al-
Khaimah, governed by the al- Qassimi family, known collectively as the
Qawasim. To the British, Qawasim naval prowess looked more like
piracy. The British dubbed the lower Gulf region the Pirate Coast and
launched a series of amphibious attacks that brought the gritty city- states