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October 1971
three major local "powers," lran, Saudi
Arabia and Soviet-backed Iraq.
Rounding out the Gulf region is the
Sultanate of Oman, a small detached
part of which sits astride the strait of
Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the
Gulf.
Abu Dhabi Offers to Subsidize
Britain
When Prime Minister Harold Wil–
son's government announced in 1968
that Britain could no longer afford to
maintain its presence in the Gulf
(which it had previously said it would
not relinquish) , it carne as an unex·
pected shock to the small Gulf states.
To whom were they to turn? How
could a "state" like Trucial Ajman with
an area of
100
square miles and a popu·
Jation that until recently could
be
seated
in its one cinema go it alone as an inde–
pendent "nation"?
The British proposed a solution - a
federation of Arab Amirates to indude
Bahrein, Qatar and the seven Trucial
states. But the sheikhs were unprepared
for this. Each one of the rulers was
enjoying absolute power at home and
sorne were unwilling to compromise
their power to a federal goverrunent.
Then there was the mistrust and
jealousy on the part of the states which
lack oil toward those who don't. The
small states feared domination by the
large ones. This was especially true of
Bahrein, whose level of education was
superior to and whose population is
equal to all the others combined. Aod
on and on it went.
Finally Bahrein and Qatar announced
they would go it alone as separate states
when the British left. (Bahrein, in fact
dedared its independence on August
15
and Qatar is expected to follow shortly.)
Meanwhile, the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi ,
Zayed bin Sultan, boping to maintain
sorne order, offered to foot the eotire
bill for Britain to remain in the Gulf.
lndeed, many thought the con–
servative governmeot of Prime Minister
Heath would have second thoughts
about creatiog a power vacuum in so
crucial an area.
But
wheo
lean
and Saudi Arabia, wño
consider themselves the dominant Gulf
powers, expressed displeasure at the pos–
sibility of continued British presence,
The
PLAIN TRUTH
D
TRUCIAL
STATES
Persian
Guf(
DUBAI
15
Gu!f
'?f.
0111a11
Popukation
Arn
119681
Abu Dhabi •....••.. ...
15,000
sq . mi. . • .
~5,500
Dubai . . . . . . . • . • • • . . . • 1.600 sq. mi. . • •
57,469
Sharja . . . . . . . . • • . • . . .
100
sq . mí. • • •
31 ,480
Umm
al Qaiwoín . . . . . . . .
300
sq . mi. . . .
3,7~0
ABU DHABI
Ajmon . .. . . . . . . . .. .. •
100
sq.
mi. • . .
~.245
f ujairah • . . • • • • . • • • • • .
400
sq . mi. . . .
9,724
Ros
a l
Khaimah • • • • • . . • .
650
sq.
mi. • . .
24,482
Bohrein • . • • • . • . • . • . • . •
245
sq.
mí. • . .
205,000
Qatar . . . . . . • • • • • . • . . 4,000 sq . mi. . • •
80,000
the lion meekly dropped the idea.
Hardly the Britain of Disraeli ; but
times do change, and as so many have
said, the sun
has
set on the British
Empire.
Both lran and Saudi Arabia are con–
vinced they are strong enough to main–
tain the status quo in the Gulf region.
But consider the past history of Soviet
pressure on lran as well as the decline
of Ar.rb
ruon.mny, aod you
quiddy
realize that Iran and Saudi Arabia will
do well to maintain the status quo al
home,
let alone elsewhere.
Technology Vacuum
Apart from the military vacuum tbat
will
be
created when Britain departs,
there is the equally significant possi·
bility of a technological vacuum
developing.
For centuries the Gulf was one of the
poorest areas on earth. Living condi–
tions were feudal and there was little
promise of improvement. But "black
gold" changed
all
that. Many of the
sheikhdoms are now bathing in oil
money.
Take Abu Dhabi. Its people, Qahtan