In eight crisp, comprehensive, and accessible chapters, the longtime Gulf analyst Coates Ulrichsen provides a rich overview of the dynamics in the countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He examines not only the rulers themselves but also the elites with whom they consult, their partially successful efforts to build formal administrative institutions, their varying approaches to popular representation, and