Bahrain and the Gulf: past, perspectives and alternative futures

After the oil discoveries of the early 1930s, Bahrain rapidly became an oil exporting country with a relatively high income per capita.

More recently Bahrain has succeeded in diversifying its oil dominated economy by developing regional banking and other services, and a variety of light and heavy industries.

Various circumstances have combined to make Bahrain a leader among the Arab Gulf States in the transformation of traditional Arabic tribal societies into modern social and economic structures.

This book, first published in 1985, explores the past, present, and possible futures of Bahrain and the Gulf.

It describes the nature of this transformation.