Key Reading:

Davidson, Christopher (ed.). Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies (London: Hurst, 2011).

Foley, Sean. The Arab Gulf States: Beyond Oil and Islam (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2010).

Nonneman, Gerd, 'Political Reform in the Gulf Monarchies: From Liberalisation to Democratisation? A Comparative Perspective', in Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Steven Wright (eds.), Reform in the Middle East Oil Monarchies (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2008), pp. 3-45.

Indicative reading list:

The Middle East and North Africa 2013 (London: Routledge, 2012): chapters on Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE. This reference work provides a descriptive account of the political histories of these states -  as well as lots of information on the economy, and directories of political parties, media organisations, etc, plus a bibliography on each of these states.

Aarts, Paul & Gerd Nonneman (eds.). Saudi Arabia in the Balance (London: Hurst, 2005) Abrahamian, Ervand. A History of Modern Iran (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2008)

Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2002).

Axworthy, Michael. Revolutionary Iran (London: Allen Lane, 2013).

Ayubi, Nazih. Over-stating the Arab State: politics and society in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995).

Beblawi, Hazem & Giacomo Luciani (eds.). The Rentier State (London: Croom Helm, 1987).

Champion, Daryl. The Paradoxical Kingdom: Saudi Arabia and the Momentum of Reform (London: Hurst, 2003).

Crystal, Jill. Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar (Cambridge University Press, 1995). Davidson, Christopher. The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2005).

Davidson, Christopher. Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (London: Hurst, 2008).

Davidson, Christopher. After the Sheikhs. The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies (London: Hurst, 2012).

Dodge, Toby. From War to a New Authoritarianism (London: Routledge, 2013).

Dresch, Paul & James Piscatori (eds), Monarchies and Nations. Globalisation and Identity in the Arab States of the Gulf (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005).

Fromherz, Allen J. Qatar. A Modern History (London: I. B. Tauris, 2012).

Gause, F. Gregory. Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (New York: Council on

Foreign Relations Press, 1994).

Herb, Michael. All in the Family. Absolutism, Revolution and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (SUNY Press, 1999).

Hertog, Steffen. Princes, Brokers, and Bureaucrats: Oil and the State in Saudi Arabia (Ithaca: CornellUniversity Press,2010).

Kamrava, Mehran & Zahra Babar (eds). Migrant Labor in the Persian Gulf (London: Hurst, 2012).

Kostiner, Joseph (ed.). Middle East Monarchies (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000).

Lacroix, Stéphane. Awakening Islam. The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia (HarvardUniversity Press, 2011).

Moore, Pete. Doing Business in the Middle East: Politics and Economic Crisis in Jordan and Kuwait (Cambridge

University Press, 2004).

al-Naqeeb, Khaldun. Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula (London: Routledge, 1990). Niblock, Tim. Saudi Arabia: Power, Legitimacy and Survival (London: Routledge, 2006).

Stansfield, Gareth. Iraq: People, History, Politics (Oxford: Polity, 2007).

Teitelbaum, Joshua (ed.), Political Liberalization in the Persian Gulf (London: IB Tauris, 2009)

Tetreault, Mary-Ann. Stories of Democracy: Politics & Society in Contemporary Kuwait (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000).

Valeri, Marc. Oman: Politics and Society in the Qaboos State (London: Hurst, 2009).