The startling social change in the Gulf, from the village and tribal structure of one generation ago to complicated nation states, has been a remarkably peaceful operation for something that has been so profound.
The Gulf states have had to balance natural conservatism with radical change, and the region's deeply Islamic character has played an important part in both conservatism and change, as they moved from a very simple starting point to being active players in the global scene of the 21st century, with practical ambitions of becoming future leaders in that scene later in the century.
This extraordinary shift has been achieved by quiet and determined action from the leaders, and by largely willing participation from the GCC populations, which has included a lot of debate on how to deal with the natural difficulties and transitions created by such major changes.
There has been continual debate about the process: Is it going too fast or too slow? How can such change retain the Gulf's unique features? Should this process of change welcome globalisation? Or should it strive to be more regional and Arab? To what extent should Islam be the dominant factor in determining public policy? Education is vital, but what should be taught?
All these questions have been asked for decades and remain very important today, but the cohesion of Gulf society remains paramount for the vast majority of the population, and asking such questions is done within the context of steady forward internal development.
This social progress was not some policy forced on the Gulf by outside forces, such as the British of yesteryear or the neo-con Americans of today with their simplistic calls for reform.
Incorporated
The Gulf leaders in the 1950s and 1960s knew perfectly well that their countries had to change, and they did not need to be told so by outsiders. Most Gulf people were ready to change, but also naturally frightened by the scale of what was being asked of them. A large part leading to this change has been to make sure that all society was incorporated in what was going on.
There is the famous story from the 1930s of how Saudi Arabia's founding ruler, King Abdul Aziz, dealt with his very conservative friend, the leading imam of Riyadh, who was inclined to resist change.
The qadi was ready to publicise his opposition to the introduction of the telephone to Saudi Arabia as unacceptable anti-Islamic Western interference.
King Abdul Aziz called the qadi all the way from Jeddah, spoke to him, and recited the Quran at the same time, thus convincing the very concerned religious leader that the telephone was permissable.
The important lesson from this incident was that the king did not issue an order and force telephones into peoples' homes. He worked to conciliate the opposition and bring the entire society forward. And this has been the necessary style of Gulf modernisers all the way through.
Speaking at this week's annual conference at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, former Bahraini Minister of Education Ali Fakhro spoke of how difficult it has been to manage social development across all society.
He described how Bahrain's government and education professionals were all agreed that teaching included encouraging pupils to question and to challenge as part of the process of education.
However, they hit a big problem as the parents of these newly questioning young people protested to the schools about what was going on. As he said "a dialogue with the parents started, which became a continuous process".
This is only one example of how modernisers need to take the time to incorporate all parts of society. Imagine the time required and the patience involved in persuading anxious parents that their fears are groundless: that their children were not being taught to ignore their own history, nor being taught to disrespect their elders.
The UAE has also made a point of incorporating the whole of society into the project of social change. As Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the General Women's Union, told the ECSSR conference in a message "Those who resist change will be the losers. We need to have courage and be ready to face change in order to achieve comprehensive development".
She also made the point that change has to be continuous and cannot be a one-off moment which is allowed to stop. She said that "Shaikh Zayed had worked hard to build institutions that would allow change to happen and to continue".
Change is happening on many fronts: the most obvious is economic, as the economies of the UAE have transformed themselves. But parallel changes in society and education have fundamental importance, and have truly changed the Gulf forever.
Political development has been slower, although many would like to see it moving faster in order to develop the institutions ready to cope with the complicated challenges of the next generation.
However, the social changes already embedded in society will inevitably bring political change in due time. This may not be fast enough for some reformers, but it is probably already too fast for others.
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