The subject of globalization has come to dominate informed debate across a broad sweep of disciplines. But there are few good detailed published studies on the influence of globalization on non-European areas of the world. This study aims to fill the gap by bringing together a number of experts on the Middle East to examine the dynamic changes it has brought to the region. The book examines the place globalization occupies in the history of the Middle East and how it is set to transform relations between governments in the area and the external and former colonial powers. It focuses on the political, cultural and economic effects of globalization on the states of the Gulf, before applying each of these three themes to the wider Middle East. -- Publisher description.