The Formation of the UAE State-Building and Arab Nationalism in the Middle East

In January 1968, Harold Wilson, the British Prime Minister, announced that the British government would withdraw from the Persian Gulf by the end of 1971. For rulers of the Arab emirates of the Persian Gulf, Wilson's announcement signalled the end of British military protection and the beginning of negotiations that culminated in the establishment of the United Arab Emirates.
This book shows exactly how the individual Persian Gulf states became a sovereign federation, paying particular attention to the role of nationalism and anti-imperialism. Kristi Barnwell demonstrates that Arab rulers in the Persian Gulf strove to create their new state with close ties to Great Britain, which provided technical, military and administrative assistance to the emirates, while also publicly embracing the popular ideologies of anti-imperialism and Arab socialism that were still dominating the political discourse in the Arab world. The research is based on primary source materials from British and American government archives, speeches, government publications from the Arab Emirates as well as memoirs and secondary sources.