| Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf Contributor(s): Krane, Jim (Author) |
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ISBN: 0231179308 ISBN-13: 9780231179300 Publisher: Columbia University Press OUR PRICE: $33.66 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | World - Middle Eastern - Political Science | Public Policy - Energy Policy - Business & Economics | Industries - General |
| Dewey: 338.272 |
| LCCN: 2018027640 |
| Series: Center on Global Energy Policy |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (0.95 lbs) 224 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: After the discovery of oil in the 1930s, the Gulf monarchies--Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain--went from being among the world's poorest and most isolated places to some of its most ostentatiously wealthy. To maintain support, the ruling sheikhs provide their subjects with boundless cheap energy, unwittingly leading to some of the highest consumption rates on earth. Today, as summertime temperatures set new records, the Gulf's rulers find themselves caught in a dilemma: can they curb their profligacy without jeopardizing the survival of some of the world's last absolute monarchies? In Energy Kingdoms, Jim Krane takes readers inside these monarchies to consider their conundrum. He traces the history of the Gulf states' energy use and policies, looking in particular at how energy subsidies have distorted demand. Oil exports are the lifeblood of their political-economic systems--and the basis of their strategic importance--but domestic consumption has begun eating into exports while climate change threatens to render their desert region uninhabitable. At risk are the sheikhdoms' way of life, their relations with their Western protectors, and their political stability in a chaotic region. Backed by rich fieldwork and deep knowledge of the region, Krane expertly lays out the hard choices that Gulf leaders face to keep their states viable. |
Contributor Bio(s): Krane, Jim: - Jim Krane is Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. He came to academia after a ten year career as a journalist stationed in Dubai and Iraq; he published City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism (2009, St. Martin's Press). |