United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective

320 Pages·2001·7.04 MB·English

by  Paula Vine

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
a new perspective
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
a new perspective
Edited by
IBRAHIM AL ABED
PETER HELLYER
First published as Perspectives on the United Arab Emirates 1997, edited by Edmund Ghareeb and
Ibrahim Al Abed. (ISBN1-900724-04-9)
This edition, with four new chapters and eleven original chapters revised and updated, published as
United Arab Emirates: ANew Perspective,2001.
Text copyright ©1997, 2001 contributing authors/Trident Press Ltd
Layout and design ©1997, 2001 Trident Press Ltd
Editors: Ibrahim Al Abed, Peter Hellyer
Editorial assistant: Gabrielle Warnock
Production editor: Paula Vine
Typesetting: Johan Hofsteenge
Cover design: Jane Stark
Printed at Bookcraft, UK
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, digitising,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Trident Press Ltd.
Published with the cooperation of the Ministry of Information and Culture, PO Box 17, Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates.
The views expressed by the contributing authors are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the publishers or the UAE Government.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
ACIPcatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Trident Press Ltd, Empire House,
175 Piccadilly, London W1V0TB
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www. tridentpress.com
ISBN 1-900724-47-2
Contents
Introduction 6
Evolution of the Emirates’Land Surface: an Introduction 9
Kenneth W. Glennie
Before the Emirates: an Archaeological and Historical 28
Account of Developments in the Region ca 5000 BC to 676 AD
Daniel T. Potts
The Coming of Islam and the Islamic Period in the UAE 70
Geoffrey R. King
The Tribal Society of the UAE and its Traditional Economy 98
Frauke Heard-Bey
The Beginning of the Post-Imperial Era forthe Trucial States: 117
From World WarI to the 1960s
Frauke Heard-Bey
The Historical Background and Constitutional Basis to the Federation 121
Ibrahim Al Abed
Formation and Evolution of the Federation and its Institutions 145
Malcolm C. Peck
Evolution of UAE Foreign Policy 161
Peter Hellyer
Dimensions of the UAE–Iran Dispute overThree Islands 179
Mohamed Al Roken
Evolution and Performance of the UAE Economy 202
1972–1998
Ali Tawfik Al Sadik
Oil and Gas in the UAE 231
Gerald Butt
Economic Development in the UAE 249
Mohamed Shihab
Industrialization in the UAE 260
Shihab M. Ghanem
Environmental Development and Protection in the UAE 277
Simon Aspinall
Poetry in the UAE 305
Shihab M. Ghanem
AuthorProfiles 312
Index 316
5
UNITEDARABEMIRATES: ANEWPERSPECTIVE
Introduction
At the end of 2001, the United Arab Emirates celebrates the completion of its first 30 years
as an independent federal state. Over the period since its formal creation on 2 December 1971,
the country has witnessed dramatic changes as the revenues from its oil and gas production
have been put to good use in the building of a modern infrastructure, while its population has
grown by over ten fold.
That process of change has taken place against a backdrop of social stability and political
continuity that is all the more remarkable because of the upheavals and conflicts that have
affected other parts of the Arabian Gulf region.
Prior to the establishment of the UAE, few outside the region knew much of the seven
emirates of which it is comprised, and fewer still had visited the area. Although oil production
and export had commenced a few years earlier, the process of modern development had still
to get properly under way. Many observers felt, indeed, that the new state had little chance
of surviving as a viable entity.
Yet, 30 years later, the United Arab Emirates is the longest surviving successful experiment
in federation anywhere in the Arab world, and has matured to become a country which not
only offers its population a modern lifestyle but also is widely recognized as having a significant
role to play within the global community of nations.
Parallel with the development that has taken place since 1971, there has been an explosion
in academic research on the country, as scholars both from within the UAE and abroad have
studied a wide range of aspects of the state, including not only its recent history and development,
but also its past and the nature of country itself.
This book brings together a collection of papers by leading scholars and is designed to
provide a broad introduction to the UAE, its origins, environment, people and development.
It seeks, thereby, to provide an outline of the country and, for those eager to learn more, to
offer a starting point for further reading and research.
An earlier collection of papers, entitled Perspectives on the United Arab Emirates, was
published in early 1997, to coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the state. Since then,
much has happened, not only in terms of the development of the country, but also in terms of
research. While some chapters from that book are included in the present volume, several
new chapters have been written, on foreign policy, industrialization, oil and gas, the environment
and poetry, and other chapters have been extensively rewritten and updated to incorporate the
results of new research as well as recent developments. This second collection of papers, with
a new title, seeks to present, therefore, an overview of the country at the beginning of the
twenty-first century.
6
INTRODUCTION
The emergence of the landscape of the country is well described by Kenneth Glennie, who
has undertaken extensive research into the geology of the Emirates, including the formation
of the oil and gas bearing rock strata which today provide the major source of national
revenues. He also examines the impact of global changes in climate and in the moving of the
world's continental plates to explain how the country was formed.
The origins of the people of the Emirates are discussed in two chapters by Daniel Potts and
Geoffrey King, who trace the prehistory and history of the UAE from the dawn of human
settlement in the country around 7500 years ago. Through their own research, as well as that
by other archaeologists and historians, it is now plain that, although the UAE may be a small
country with an unfavourable climate, it has played a significant role in the evolution of
civilization in the region for many thousands of years.
Frauke Heard Bey provides two chapters on the traditional lifestyle of the Emirati people,
including the important tribal structure, and on the history of the twentieth century evolution
from a collection of disparate sheikhdoms on the periphery of the British Empire into the
federation of today.
The nature of the federation itself, and the way in which a successful sharing of authority
between the federal government and those of the individual emirates has emerged, is examined
by Ibrahim Al Abed, who provides an authoritative background to the discussions that led up
to the formation of the federation and to the adoption of the national constitution.
The circumstances under which the federation was formed and the institutions of the
federation are also discussed by Malcolm Peck, who studies the operation of those institutions,
and also reviews the way in which modern governmental structures have been able to co-
exist with the traditional, and still relevant, forms of local and tribal authority.
The way in which the country has earned itself respect in the global arena is analysed in a
chapter on foreign policy by Peter Hellyer, who reviews the basic elements of the country's
foreign policy and the way in which it has evolved over the three decades since the formation
of the federation, moving from a focus on purely regional issues to a more global approach.
A second chapter on foreign policy issues, by Mohammed Al Roken, examines the
dispute with Iran over the three UAE islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb,
occupied by Iran since just before the federation was established. This chapter reviews the
historical status of the islands and legal issues arising out of the Iranian occupation, going
on to record the attempts made by the United Arab Emirates to achieve a peaceful resolution
to the dispute.
Turning back to internal affairs, and, in particular, the modern development of the country,
Ali Al Sadik investigates the process of economic development in the oil era, providing a
useful array of statistics that show the contrasting growth of the oil and non oil sectors in the
UAE Gross Domestic Product. He also deals with the economic aspects of the dependence
upon a largely expatriate labour force and with the widely recognized need for a further diversi-
fication of the national economy.
The oil and gas industry itself is examined by Gerald Butt, who traces its evolution from
the early days of exploration in the 1950s to the major role it plays today as a source of revenues
and of employment for the people of the Emirates. Without these revenues, the development
of the UAE could not have taken place in the same way, and this chapter shows clearly how
the country's hydrocarbon reserves have provided the fuel for growth.
7
UNITEDARABEMIRATES: ANEWPERSPECTIVE
Mohammed Shihab enumerates and analyses the factors that have led to the socio-economic
transformation of the country since 1971. He notes, inter alia, that the accessibility to revenues
from the oil and gas industry has permitted the UAE to compress decades of economic growth
into a relatively short period.
That has been made possible in part by the way in which the UAE has developed its
industrial sector, first as a downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, and then, increasingly,
in the non-oil sector. The achievements and problems of this process are scrutinized by
Shihab M. Ghanem.
Simon Aspinall looks at the wildlife and environment of the Emirates, providing data to
challenge the common misconception that deserts have little to offer in the way of Nature,
and examining the way in which conservation of wildlife and the environment has become a
key priority of Government policy over the course of the last three decades.
Finally, taking a look at an aspect of the cultural development of the country, Shihab M.
Ghanem, himself a prominent local poet, traces the evolution of the country's poets and poetry.
In the nature of books such as this, it is impossible to provide an exhaustive review of the
culture, history, heritage, development and landscape of the United Arab Emirates. Moreover,
the process of scholarly study into a wide range of topics is continuing to produce valuable
new data. It is our hope, however, that this new collection of papers will not only provide a
useful introduction to the United Arab Emirates, but will also prompt further study. Through
such a process, not only can researchers, and others, learn more about the country, but also
citizens and residents of the UAE can come to know the country better. That, in turn, will be
of benefit for the process of further development.
The Editors
8
Evolution of The Emirates’Land Surface:
an Introduction
K.W. Glennie
Introduction
With the exception of the Omani territory in the north-eastern Ru’us al-Jibal (Musandam
peninsula) and north-central Oman Mountains, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) occupies a
broad strip of land flanking the southern shores of the Arabian Gulf between the Qatar peninsula
and the Gulf of Oman. Much of that land consists of relatively low-lying rolling dunes and
interdune areas forming the north-eastern limit of the Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter of Saudi
Arabia), which reach 150 m above sea level in the region to the north of Al Liwa. In the
northern emirates, the dunes extend up to the Oman Mountains. To the south-east, however,
the eastern limit of the dunes coincides approximately with the Oman border, where they
overlie the deflated (wind eroded) surface of sub-horizontal fluvial sediments that had earlier
been transported westward from the mountains (Fig. 1).
Ageneral lack of rainfall ensures that most of Arabia is a desert. Summer temperatures can
approach 50°C on the Gulf coast of the Emirates, where relative humidity averages between
50 and 60 per cent. Inland, however, temperatures can exceed 50°C and relative humidity be
less than 20 per cent (United Arab Emirates University). Over the western lowlands of the
Emirates, annual rainfall is mostly less than 40 mm. In Al Ain the mean annual rainfall is
96 mm and yet the potential yearly evaporation is over 3000 mm (op.cit.Plate 44). With a
high rate of evaporation and an annual rainfall over the Oman Mountains that rarely reaches
200 mm, this highland area, which has elevations within the Emirates of over 1500 m, must
also be classified as desert; its desert status is emphasized by its surface of almost continuous
barren rock and a sparse vegetation confined mostly to the floors of wadis.
With the exception of the south-western Ru’us al-Jibal, the rocks exposed within the
mountains of the Emirates differ markedly from those that contain deeply buried oil and gas
fields in the west and beneath the southern Gulf. Also, the extensive plains of fluvial sediments
that flank the mountains are evidence of a former, much wetter, climate than is indicated by
the younger dune sands and salt-covered sabkhasthat overlie their extremities. The history
of deposition and deformation of these rock units, the much more recent evidence of rapid
changes in climate from very humid to hyper-arid, together with the geological processes that
culminated in today’s desert surface, form the topic of the following pages.
9
UNITEDARABEMIRATES: ANEWPERSPECTIVE
RED SEA ARABIA ARABIAN GULFMZTAUNGSAROES GOUMLAFN OFFAALNLSDTUENRETISA R& YIN A&LLU ALIHMTANAOTEDWCES SASHTSASTTOEBI HNNCMKOEARHANEIALAT ALOFLCPAUEHNVOISOIUALLSPIATRE-RASUUUTSO CAHL TJIHBOANL SSHHAARRJJAAHH RAS AL-KHAIMAH RUUS AL JIBAL
RUB AL-KHALI SIR BU N'IER DUBAI
J
ARABIAN SEA FAIYAH
QATAR GULF DOAFL AMDAEN ARABIAN GULF ALLUVIAL FANS
ABU DHABI
SIR BANI YAS ABU AL ABYAD
J.DHANNA
SILA BARAJKAH BAYNUNAH COASTALSABKHAS HAJFITAL AIN
BNH
SAUDI
ARABIA D U N E S Y S T E M S
DNAOTA SMABATKTHIA ALLUVIAL FANS
LIWA
0 100km
Fig. 1. Simplified geological map of the United Arab Emirates. Inset diagram indicates some of the
complex geometrical relationships between rock units of the mountains and flanking areas.
See also Table 1.
Mountain and Subsurface Geological Framework
The subsurface
The oldest exposed rocks underlie the whole of the Emirates except the Oman Mountains and
immediate flank areas; they are seen at only two localities on the mainland, Jebel Ali south-
west of Dubai and Jebel Dhanna in the western part of Abu Dhabi, but also occur on several
offshore islands (e.g. Sir Bani Yas, Sir Abu Nu’air: Fig. 1). These jebelsand islands are dome-
shaped at the surface and are cored by Hormuz Salt (named after similar salt on Hormuz Island
in the Straits of Hormuz). The salt was deposited almost 600 million years ago on the floor
of an almost enclosed sea when evaporation resulted in its water becoming super-saturated
with respect tohalite(common salt) (see also Glennie 1987: Fig. 12a). About 20 million years
before the present (20 Ma BP), the Red Sea was also floored by salt in a similar way. Salt can
flow and, unlike the sedimentary rocks that overlie it, cannot be compacted with increased
depth of burial. For this reason, the salt is now less dense than most of its overburden and,
using any vertical weakness, penetrates upward (diapirism) through the overlying rock
sequence to form salt domesat the surface. In the south-eastern Gulf, the source of the diapiric
Hormuz salt now lies at a depth of some 10 km (Beydoun 1991). Hydrocarbon source rocks
of similar age occur in Oman, and may be present in the Gulf area, but because of deep burial
10