Page 228 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

*94 I he Origins of the United Arab Emirates

already enjoyed by tlicir oil-producing neighbours, but, aside from
the discovery in 1973 of oil Tor Sharjah, olf Abu Musa, and despite
the many oil companies at work, exploration in these shaykhdoms
has so far largely drawn a blank.
The story of Shakhbut’s reluctance to allow the vast revenues
that suddenly began to pour in to Abu Dhabi to alter any aspect
of the traditional way of life there is too well known to need
reiteration here. The same goes for his dcposal in 1966 by his
brother Zayid of Buraiini, who almost immediately started develop­
ment projects for the shaykhdom and its less fortunate neighbours.
By 1970, the rale of growth of Abu Dhabi had become three
times faster than that of Kuwait, the oil-rich state whose rise to
affluence and prominence has become almost legendary.8 At about
the same time as these were unleased the tremendous forces that
suddenly came into play when the extent of the oil reserves of
Abu Dhabi became known, the British Government announced,
in January 1968, that its forces would withdraw entirely from the
Gulf region by the end of 1971. Before the shock of the announcement
had had time to take effect, Abu Dhabi and Dubai settled a
longstanding offshore dispute they had had with each other, and
formed a federation that the other Trucial states, plus Bahrain
and Qatar, were invited to join.
The rulers of various shaykhdoms had since the early part of
1967 been seeking for some way of cooperating for their mutual
security: the enormous wealth, small size and strategic location
of the shaykhdoms made them especially vulnerable to any kind
of threat; and their rulers were particularly concerned about the
strength of the nationalist movements then active in the Federation
of South Arabia, which was due to become independent of Britain
in January 1968.9 Fear of similar troubles in the Gulf region led
to a move, reportedly initiated by Shaykh Zayid of Abu Dhabi,
to provide for the security of the region by co-operation between
its rulers. This move gained momentum after the British announce­
ment of withdrawal.
When Abu Dhabi and Dubai formed a federation, they invited
neighbouring states to join them. These, after a futile attempt
to persuade Britain to maintain her presence in the Gulf at Arab
expense, announced about ten days later that they would join
with Abu Dhabi and Dubai. For just under two years, from late
in February 1968 until late in October 1969, there seemed a fair
likelihood that a federation of the nine shaykhdoms concerned (the
seven Trucial states, plus Bahrain and Qatar) would indeed be
established. Bahrain, however, was motivated primarily by her desire
herself from the renewed spate ol Iranian claims, and
to protect
anxious to assume a leading role. When the Iranian
Qatar was