Amin’s work is part of a growing literature on the Gulf which is now accepting the unprecedented attention of scholars from many disciplines. Understandably, the academic eye has focused in the main upon politico-economic matters, reflecting the Gulf’s recent importance to the industrialised world as a key source of energy. Amin’s study is the more welcome, therefore, inasmuch as it introduces a legal expert’s perspective. Nevertheless, regional political forces are ever present irrespective of the niceties of international law. For example, the very designation of the Gulf is in dispute: is it Persian, Arab, or indeed, Islamic; should it be exclusively labelled one of these, or some cumbersome combination? The legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz is a thornier problem. (Chapter 3). The territorial waters of Iran and Oman embrace between them all but a sliver of the 24 nautical mile stretch. Clearly, both the other Gulf littoral and the non-littoral States have an interest in establishing a regime of innocent passage in the Strait. It would be too sanguine to expect an imminent solution to this problem, however, as long as Iraq and Iran are in conflict over the Shatt-al-Arab at the other extremity of the Gulf. (Chapter 4).

By no means all contentious issues have been resolved by resort to force of arms. Continental shelf boundaries have to some extent been demarcated through mutual agreement, without recourse to judicial or arbitral procedures. (Chapter 5). On the other hand, owing to land boundary disputes between the Gulf’s Arab States arising from a complex network of tribal alliances, a legal examination of offshore boundaries between the same States is made the more difficult. (Chapter 6). The equidistance principle of offshore boundary delimitation is further complicated by the presence of many islands in the Gulf and by oil and mineral resources crossing the equidistance line. (Chapter 7). In this respect the intricate legal issues in the Gulf are in contrast to similar issues concerning natural resources in the Red Sea where the possible permutation of States’ interests is far less. In the two final chapters of his study, Amin examines questions of fisheries and pollution control. A series of brief appendices includes a chronological table of treaties (1847–1981), a table of legal cases, and a list of the Gulf States’ legislation relating to the Gulf waters. The bibliography, while selective, contains all basic material and a legal subject index provides a quick reference guide. Amin’s study is the most comprehensive, up-to-date treatment available and is accessible to both layman and legal expert.