Conclusion

Abstract

Ever since its discovery a little over a hundred years ago in Iran, oil has shaped political, social, human, and economic developments in the Persian Gulf. Although oil has financed modernization or transformation, it has not financed development, and has preempted political, social, and economic reforms. Oil has drawn foreigners, especially the world powers as colonialists and neocolonialists, to the region in search of economic and financial spoils. Oil has fueled ethnic, sectarian, and tribal conflicts and wars. And yet, the final impact of oil on each of the eight countries that share the Persian Gulf may turn out to be very different when the last drop of oil is extracted than where they find themselves in 2013. The political economy of oil has been gradually shifting from what was effectively colonialism to what has become collaborative colonialism.