ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the Arab states on the western side of the Persian, or Arabian Gulf: Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar. Kuwait spent a considerable amount of its wealth cleaning up and rebuilding after the invasion. It also moved closer to its Gulf neighbors and the United States. Kuwait had one of the first legislative bodies in the Gulf, opening in 1921, and reformed by Abdullah Salim, whose Kuwaiti rule began in 1950s. Before the discovery of oil, Kuwaitis garnered their livelihoods either from nomadic herding or from the waters of the Gulf. Kuwaitis know that the oil revenues cannot last forever. Research in Kuwait focuses on potential alternatives, including a return to using Gulf resources more fully. The first women's society in the Gulf started in Bahrain in 1955, and the key women in the al-Khalifa family have been active in supporting women's groups and women's issues.
