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Situated at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, the Middle East has historically been a strategic area that has been vied for over centuries by competing powers. In modern history, the region had been traditionally dominated by the Ottoman and Persian Empires until the arrival of colonial European powers. With the influx of novel players to the pivotal constituency, a new set of authorities were to extend their influence into the region. External dominance loomed against the backdrop of the decline in supremacy of the formerly vigorous domestic Middle Eastern empires, which also coincided with stagnating economies that were unable to compete with the flourishing ones of Europe. Moreover, intense competition between European powers for the expansion of their territories in the Middle East further served as a catalyst to not only the demise of the Ottomans and Persians but also the changing of the political landscape in the region. The Persian Gulf region in particular had been affected and throughout history had witnessed dramatic rises and gradual ebbs of empires that once maintained boundaries along its shores. At the time of withdrawal from the Middle East by the Europeans, the Persian Gulf found itself with a very different set of states than prior to colonization. The newly reshaped Persian Gulf eventually found itself to include Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman as allocating nations opposite the traditional littoral state of Iran. Despite the formation of the new states in the region, the Persian Gulf had already been host to a variety of ethnicities and histories as well as being endowed with coveted natural resources; including pearl-producing oysters (Davidson 2005: 5–6), fishing grounds (Ibid), date palming estates (Ibid), oil, gas (Ibid), and even water as a potential source of wealth. The strategic waterway is moreover significant since it provides tactical access to the historic Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Strait of Hormuz, and to the rest of the world past the Arabian Sea. Indeed, the Persian Gulf can be viewed as an attractive interaction of wealth and diversity, however, ethnic variability and an abundance of natural resources can potentially be a budding dilemma.

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Introduction

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Nadir Gohari

摘要

Situated at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, the Middle East has historically been a strategic area that has been vied for over centuries by competing powers. In modern history, the region had been traditionally dominated by the Ottoman and Persian Empires until the arrival of colonial European powers. With the influx of novel players to the pivotal constituency, a new set of authorities were to extend their influence into the region. External dominance loomed against the backdrop of the decline in supremacy of the formerly vigorous domestic Middle Eastern empires, which also coincided with stagnating economies that were unable to compete with the flourishing ones of Europe. Moreover, intense competition between European powers for the expansion of their territories in the Middle East further served as a catalyst to not only the demise of the Ottomans and Persians but also the changing of the political landscape in the region. The Persian Gulf region in particular had been affected and throughout history had witnessed dramatic rises and gradual ebbs of empires that once maintained boundaries along its shores. At the time of withdrawal from the Middle East by the Europeans, the Persian Gulf found itself with a very different set of states than prior to colonization. The newly reshaped Persian Gulf eventually found itself to include Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman as allocating nations opposite the traditional littoral state of Iran. Despite the formation of the new states in the region, the Persian Gulf had already been host to a variety of ethnicities and histories as well as being endowed with coveted natural resources; including pearl-producing oysters (Davidson 2005: 5–6), fishing grounds (Ibid), date palming estates (Ibid), oil, gas (Ibid), and even water as a potential source of wealth. The strategic waterway is moreover significant since it provides tactical access to the historic Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Strait of Hormuz, and to the rest of the world past the Arabian Sea. Indeed, the Persian Gulf can be viewed as an attractive interaction of wealth and diversity, however, ethnic variability and an abundance of natural resources can potentially be a budding dilemma.