Tribalism and Political Power in the Gulf: State-Building and National Identity in the Middle East

Gulf societies are often described as being intensely tribal. However, in discussions of state building and national identity, the role of tribalism and tribal identity is often overlooked. This book analyses the political role of tribes in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE aiming to understand the degree to which tribes hinder or advance popular participation in government and to what extent they exert domestic political power.
The research traces the historical relationship between ruling elites and nomadic tribes, and, by constructing political histories of these states and analysing the role of tribes in domestic political life and social hierarchies, reveals how they serve as major political actors in the Gulf.
A key focus of the book is understanding the extent to which societies in the Gulf have become ’re-bedouinised’ in the modern era and how this has shaped these states’ political processes and institutions. The book explores the roles that tribes play in the development of ＂progressive＂ citizenship regimes and policymaking today, and how they are likely to be influential in the future within rentier environments.

Alanoud al-Sharekh is Strategic Advisor at the Kuwait National Security Bureau, Kuwait. She is also Co-director and founder of Abolish 153, a campaign to fight honour killing legislation in Kuwait and the GCC.

Courtney Freer is Research Officer on the Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. She has published in the journals International Journal of Middle East Studies and Gulf Affairs, and in the book The Middle East and North Africa.