Contemporary English-Language Historiography of the Decolonization of Trucial Oman

Abstract

The article provides an overview of papers published after 2000 that examine various aspects of the decolonization process in Trucial Oman. The author identifies three schools of historical research that study these issues: the first so called “British” school explores the reasons why the British government decided on decolonization in January 1968; the second so called “Middle Eastern” school examines the main problems faced by the process of decolonization; the third so called “American” school studies the connection of the decolonization process with the regional system of international relations and global Cold War confrontation. Declassification of British documents dealing with the decolonization process in the Persian Gulf the early 2000s allowed historians to make many important discoveries and significantly improve our understanding of how the UAE were formed.