Rulers and Merchants in Pre-oil Kuwait: The Significance of Palm Dates

This article argues that one of the keys to understanding the power of Kuwait's ruling Sabah family in the twentieth century lies in its economic strength. From the 1830s onwards, the Sabah family gradually purchased or took control of extensive date plantations in southern Iraq, and thus were able to build up an independent economic power base. The commerce in dates grew throughout the nineteenth century, and reached its peak at the start of the twentieth century. At the same time, the state formation following the First World War reduced the opportunities of the merchants, who were the elite in Kuwaiti society. As a result, while the economic domination of the Sabah family was entirely attributed by researchers to the oil wealth in the second half of the twentieth century, they, unlike the merchants, were relatively unaffected by the economic crisis of the 1920s and 1930s. Their wealth had depended on a basic staple commodity, while the merchants' source of income had been mainly pearling, a luxury during times of economic hardship. The profitability of dates, the demand for which was constantly on the increase, was the source of wealth that the Sabah family and the ruler fought fiercely to sustain up to the 1950s, even when this ran counter to the interests of Kuwait.     

Economic Cooperation between India and Kuwait: Performance and Prospects

Over two decades of liberalization and reforms have resulted in India becoming the second fastest growing economy in the world. Having the second largest population in the world, it is also a vast repository of skilled manpower. However, the significant growth in Indian economy has increased the demand for energy substantially. Consequently, India has to import 80 per cent of its petroleum crude requirement. In contrast to India, Kuwait is very small in size and population. But it is very rich in hydrocarbon resources. The economic cooperation between India and Kuwait is deep rooted. It consists of bilateral trade inclusive of energy imports, Indian expatriate workers in Kuwait and the inflow of remittances, Kuwaiti aid and prospective Kuwaiti investments. The article is a detailed study of all these aspects of economic cooperation between the two countries.     

Deconstructing Minorities/Majorities in Parliamentary Gulf States (Kuwait and Bahrain)

Abstract

The notion of ‘minority’ has traditionally been understood as an ethnic or religious category based on primary identity markers, and as such only makes sense relative to a broader polity. On closer examination, however, the case of the smaller Gulf states illustrates the constructed nature of the minority/majority dialectic. In these societies, with mixed populations and transnational foundations—, monarchic regimes have historically asserted themselves by promoting some groups over others to secure their loyalty.

This is particularly true in the parliamentary regimes of Kuwait and Bahrain. This article contends that while the ethno-religious understanding of ‘minority’ makes little heuristic sense in these two countries, the minority/majority dialectic is part of a political praxis used to garner support for the regime and by manufacturing ‘minorities’ to evade the principle of majority rule. The article traces the post-2011 responses by the Kuwaiti and Bahraini regimes to the rise of an oppositional majority. For Kuwait, it analyses the emphasis placed on the nation’s unity and the discrediting of the Bedouin’s political claims for Bahrain, it looks at how the authorities stressed the nation’s multicultural character to undermine the representativeness of the dominant Shiite political movement. Both strategies are designed to deflect the threat of power sharing.     

Exclusion-moderation in the gulf context: tracing the development of pragmatic Islamism in Kuwait

While considerable existing scholarship examines the degree to which Muslim Brotherhood affiliates have toned down their religious rhetoric to compete in electoral politics, very little of that discussion centres on how Brotherhood movements react when political space narrows. Even fewer studies have examined the recent behaviour of the Brotherhood affiliate in Kuwait. In this article, we demonstrate how the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood has, in the face of increased government surveillance and restriction of political space, moderated its Islamist agenda to become part of the broader opposition agitating for structural political reforms, often at the expense of the traditional agenda of Islamizing society.     

The voice and loyalty of business in Kuwait: merchant politics in times of contention

According to the classic rentier state theory literature, the political activity of Kuwaiti merchants effectively ceased after the government acquired oil rents. More recent works explain business alliances with the government through the competition for resources between the capitalist class and the population at large. This article argues that the merchants’ political position vis-à-vis the ruling powers has not been consistent and has shifted between ‘voice’ and ‘loyalty’. To explain the choice of political action by the Kuwaiti business community the article compares the merchants’ role in two major contentious events—the popular uprising of 2011 and the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Despite the similarities between them, in 1989 prominent business figures were in the vanguard of opposition, while after 2011 they chose to re-emerge as government allies. The comparison suggests that the shift from ‘voice’ to ‘loyalty’ can be explained by the changing political field. I contend that the rise of new social forces and new types of political opposition antagonized business and forced it to side with the government in order to pursue its vital rent-seeking interests.     

Iran's Financial Stake in Caspian Oil

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the questions of how to divide the Caspian Sea and transport its oil and gas have not been resolved and have become more problematic because of outside interference. It is in Iran's financial interest to take the initiative and either accept a smaller section of the Caspian Sea—if guaranteed the opportunity to participate in the transport of its hydrocarbons—or propose an Iranian solution of creating a joint Caspian oil and gas company that would get the hydrocarbons out more quickly and efficiently.     

略论21世纪的石油地缘政治学

本文探讨了21世纪石油地缘政治学的基本研究内容,即全球的石油分布、供应和需求与地缘政治的紧密联系及相互影响。在经济全球化时代,随着中国的石油安全与世界石油市场的联系越来越密切,中国应加强对石油地缘政治的研究。     

Constraints in Gas for Oil Substitution in the USSR: The Oil Refining Industry and Gas Storage

While Soviet oil output peaked in the early 1980s, natural gas output grew rapidly. As a result the Soviets have sought to use more natural gas as a boiler fuel, freeing petroleum for the higher priority mobile and chemical uses. Lack of depth in Soviet oil refining and lack of gas storage capacity are the two key constraints in this gas-for-oil substitution strategy. This paper considers the prospects for easing these constraints by restructuring the petroleum refining industry, and providing enough gas storage capacity to supply all gas demand during the winter. Journal of Economc Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 723.