The ‘Pax Britannica’ era and the decline of the ‘natural state’ economy

Britain began the establishment of her control over the Gulf and the Arab Peninsula by weakening their commercial and economic capacities and by subjecting them ultimately to the colonial adminis­ tration, of which they made India the headquarters. In order to achieve her goals, Britain resorted to various tactics and excuses with which to hide her true aims, of which we shall mention the following:1

1 The pretext of trying to put an end to piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Arab Gulf after the 1798 treaty with Muscat.