Fueling Sovereignty : Colonial Oil and the Creation of Unlikely States

Examines how oil and other natural resources affected the making of sovereign states through decolonization, creating states that would otherwise not exist. Featuring theoretical explanations and rich historical evidence based on archival research, this book will appeal to students of international relations, political science, history and area studies.

European colonialism was often driven by the pursuit of natural resources, and the resulting colonization and decolonization processes have had a profound impact on the formation of the majority of sovereign states that exist today. But how exactly have natural resources influenced the creation of formerly colonized states? And would the world map of sovereign states look significantly different if not for these resources? These questions are at the heart of Fueling Sovereignty, which focuses primarily on oil as the most significant natural resource of the modern era. Naosuke Mukoyama provides a compelling analysis of how colonial oil politics contributed to the creation of some of the world's most “unlikely” states. Drawing on extensive archival sources on Brunei, Qatar and Bahrain, he sheds light on how some small colonial entities achieved independence despite their inclusion in a merger project promoted by the metropole and regional powers.