Vo examines the key role of oil in economic relations between the United States and the nations of the Persian Gulf, providing a useful historical perspective. The work focuses on the evolution and significance of investment and trade relations between the U.S. and the Gulf Cooperation Council states (G.C.C.) since the 1930's, when American commercial interests in the Arabian peninsula began, through recent decades and the 1991 Gulf war. This is the most comprehensive study to date of U.S.-G.C.C. economic relations and is the first study to pull together the elements of both investment and trade relations in a systematic analysis.