The Persian Gulf region has been the source or locale of a disproportionately high number of major world developments and crises in recent decades. These have included the oil price boom, Iranian revolution and hostage crisis, Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and that ensuing war, the ups and downs of sanctions against Iraq, and the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on America. This area is truly the region at the center of the world’s concerns. The simplest explanation of its importance may be the high concentration of petroleum and natural gas found there, yet the existence of militant dictatorships, a stark confrontation between modernity and tradition, extremes of wealth and poverty, a virtually unique role for religion, and a dramatic struggle between a democratic movement and a semi-theocracy in Iran are other remarkable and distinctive features of the area. This book surveys and analyzes the contemporary problems and issues of the Gulf region in order to show the nature of current conflicts and the likely direction of future ones.