Andrey S. Derbenev

Monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula and the adjacent islands remain a very specific part of the Arab world throughout the contemporary history. Before gaining independence, these countries represented the most economically and politically backward part of the Peninsula. In the final third of the last century they have overtaken their counterparts in such characteristics as the standard of living, becoming the forefront of the Arab region. The political elite of the country carried out fundamental political and socio-economic reforms, and showed that it is able to move society from medieval backwardness to modernity. The danger of this situation isn’t a secret for ruling houses is extinguished by elite which makes efforts on the different directions in the aspiration to preserve the social peace and the power. The work was written on the basis of data obtained from the studies of such authors as Rosmarin Zakhlan, Mehran Kamrava, Ali Khalifa Al Kuwari and others, as well as on the statistics of the international organization of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the national statistics of the ministry of information of Qatar, the Russian and Western press.