2026/07/15 by Allen Fromherz · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Islamic Studies and History #Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts #Socioeconomic Development in MENA
paper · doi:10.1080/03086534.2026.2693709
openalex publication_date 2026/07/15 · openalex created_date 2026/07/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16
The Gulf is an “aimperial” space at the “center of the world.” It is neither anti-imperial, it benefits from trade linking empires, nor on the frontier, its space is well known. Instead, the peoples of the Gulf have avoided outright control by any single empire by linking them and adapting to the harsh geographical realities of deserts, marshes and mountains. Ruled by merchant princes and fueled by customs dues on trade, Gulf peoples and Gulf economies have, for almost 5000 years, shaped the Gulf as a liminal, fluid space. Unlike much of the world before the nineteenth century century, the Gulf has not depended on agricultural surplus but on commerce. The article discusses how conflicts in the Gulf in 2026 only confirm the central, liminal status of the Gulf, proving again its position at the center of the world's economy.