Oil and State in Arabia

There are undoubtedly few, if any, aspects of the political, social or economic life in Arabia that are today entirely untouched directly or indirectly by the development of the region’s oil resources. And since the organization and activities of governments are themselves responsive in some degree to changes taking place among their peoples, a full examina­ tion of the relation between oil and state in Arabia would not only require an extensive historical treatment of topics about which much is already well known but would also inevitably lead us into a discussion of most aspects of Arabian life. Education, including study abroad, greatly improved communications, including radio and even television, travel and wider contacts with foreigners, have all been instrumental in changing attitudes and aspirations among the population, and all have directly or indirectly been made possible on an increasing scale through the avail­ ability of oil revenues. The organization of the state in the established oil-exporting countries has been radically changed, the position of the religious authorities significantly undermined, and the personal power of ruling families eroded. Doubtless such changes would have come about eventually in any case, but they have certainly been hastened by the development of oil, which necessarily opened the countries with accelera­ ting rapidity to influences from elsewhere, and especially from the industrialized Western world. Oil was discovered in Bahrain in 1932 and exports began in 1934.