ABSTRACT
It is an interesting paradox that the extent of knowledge in Britain of the Gulf has broadened and deepened in inverse proportion to the extent of direct British influence there. Britain in the 1980s sees the Gulf in terms of oil, finance and commerce. This is not to say that Britain depends to an overriding extent on any or all of these elements for its prosperity and well-being. There are probably not many people in the Gulf who would consider themselves threatened by the Soviet Union or indeed by the spread of Communism. The revolution in Iran and the collapse of the Pahlavi regime at the beginning of 1979 projected shock waves throughout the Gulf. The Gulf is important to Britain in particular and to the West in general and will remain so. The Gulf states have weathered turbulences of the decade following the termination of the British protective role with a stability and confidence which has surprised the world.
