Money, Oil, and Empire in the Middle East Sterling and Postwar Imperialism, 1944–1971

This book is an important political and economic history of the unravelling of the British Empire and its connection to the decline of sterling as a leading international currency. Analyzing events such as the 1951 Iranian oil nationalization crisis and the 1956 Suez crisis, Steven Galpern provides a new perspective on British imperialism in the Middle East by reframing British policy in the context of the government's postwar efforts to maintain the international prestige of the pound. He reveals the link that British officials made between the Middle Eastern oil trade and the strength of sterling and how this influenced government policy and strained relationships with the Middle East, the United States, and multinational oil firms. In so doing, this book draws revealing parallels between the British experience and that of the United States today and will be essential reading for scholars of the British empire, Middle East studies and economic history.

Introduction; 1. Anglo-American conflict over oil and the sterling area; 2. Sterling and Britain's confrontation with nationalism in Iran; 3. The Suez crisis: a sterling rescue operation gone wrong; 4. Kuwait's surplus oil revenue: the benefit and threat to sterling; Conclusion: the devaluation of 1967 and the end of empire.

Steven G. Galpern received his PhD in history from the University of Texas, Austin, after which he worked for five years as a historian at the US Department of State, where he currently works as a Middle East Analyst.