The United Arab Emirates

Abstract

, visit to the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, formerly known as Trucial Oman or the Pirate Coast, during the winter of 1996-1997 permits an updating of my earlier work (Melamid 1953,1973,1989). Great Britain was an established colonial presence in the gulf in 1820, having signed a series of agreements with the sheikhs of the individual tribes that, augmented by treaties on preserving a maritime truce, earned the area the name of Trucial States or Trucial Coast. In addition, Britain was allowed to handle foreign relations for the area because of the Perpetual Maritime Truce that the Arab rulers had signed with the British in 1853. The frequently warring tribal groupings mostly constituted themselves into emirates during the early twentieth century. The united emirates are: Abu Dhabi-which includes the oasis of Buraimi, adjoining Al-'Ayn, and is the largest and the leader of the group-Dubayy, Sharjah, 'Ajman, Umm al Qaywayn, and Al Fujayrah. Following the British political and militarywithdrawal of 1971, these formed a federation called the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Abu Dhabi City as the capital (Figure i). The emirate Ra's al Khaymah joined in 1972. Qatar and Bahrain decided to stay outside this federation and became separate states. The UAE was soon internationally recognized and became a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, and other international organizations. It has embassies and other representations in NewYork, London, and most Middle Eastern and South Asian countries. The UAE, which comprises approximately 84,000 square kilometers and almost 2.4 million people (MP 1995), is strategically located along the southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for crude oil. Both internal and external disputes with neighbors have by and large ceased, permitting oil development and giving the country regular and substantial revenues. The boundary with Oman, however, is not defined, and the Abu Dhabi-Saudi Arabia border-dispute settlement of 1974 has not yet been ratified (CIA 1997). Uniquely among states of the world, offshore rights belong to the individual emirates and not to the federation. Arbitration was required to determine boundaries both with respect to territorial seas and the outer Persian Gulf waters. Dubayy and several of the other emirates now produce oil offshore, and others are expected to follow. The inhabitants of the UAE include local Arab tribesmen who in the main hold government jobs. In addition, at least two-thirds and perhaps, as suggested by the U.S. Department of State (1991), up to 90 percent of the workforce are immigrants from other parts of Arabia-mainly Yemen-or, more importantly, from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and, recently, Afghanistan. Immigration is strictly controlled by permits that are issued only upon proof of employment and housing. In Abu Dhabi City taxi driving is reserved for local tribesmen and is regarded as an aid to their sed-