Title Desert kingdom : how oil and water forged modern Saudi Arabia / Toby Craig Jones

Published Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2010

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Description 1 online resource (312 pages) Contents The nature of the state -- Imperial geology -- The dogma of development -- Engineering the garden -- The black gold coast -- The wages of oil -- Nature's retreat Summary "Oil And Water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil's abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom's ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it teas through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged." "The central government's power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution." "Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi stare. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert."--Jacket Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes In English Print version record In Title is part of the collection: De Gruyter Rights, Action, and Social Responsibility Subject Natural resources -- Government policy -- Saudi Arabia -- History -- 20th century Water resources development -- Government policy -- Saudi Arabia -- History -- 20th century Water -- Government policy -- Saudi Arabia -- History -- 20th century Petroleum industry and trade -- Government policy -- Saudi Arabia -- History -- 20th century HISTORY -- General. HISTORY -- Middle East -- General. Natural resources -- Government policy Petroleum industry and trade -- Government policy Politics and government Water -- Government policy Water resources development -- Government policy SUBJECT Saudi Arabia -- Politics and government -- 20th century Subject Saudi Arabia Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780674059405 0674059409

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