"The sudden, huge price hikes in Middle Eastern oil in late 1973 yielded, almost overnight, an enormous flow of resources to states and societies that could not have anticipated such instant affluence. With this came unprecedented political power because of the control the oil states were able to maintain over oil production and prices until the second half of 1982. Thus, though covering barely nine years, the period may appropriately be dubbed the "Oil Decade"." "In this study of fundamental aspects of the oil decade, Gad G. Gilbar first examines the influence the production, export and revenues of oil exerted on domestic, regional and international relations. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the expansion of higher education, no doubt the single most significant social change the oil decade engendered. Throughout the Arab world many new universities began opening their doors to an ever-increasing number of students, especially in the sciences and civil engineering. Significant also was the proportion of women students enrolling." "Finally, the author traces how, as of the early 1970s, the official Arab boycott on goods manufactured in Israel was increasingly being circumvented, and a wide range of agricultural and industrial products were beginning to find their way to customers in Arab states."--BOOK JACKET.