| Streszczenie: | <p>The majority of sovereign states that exist today emerged from decolonization. During the decolonization process, some colonial entities achieved statehood individually, while others did not and became part of a larger state. What explains their divergent outcomes? This dissertation addresses this puzzle by focusing on colonial entities that rejected a project of amalgamation and became independent separately from their neighbors. The main argument of this dissertation is that oil and colonial politics interacted to create states that would otherwise not exist. When faced with a project of amalgamation, (1) oil production during the colonial period and (2) the protectorate system—indirect colonial administration through local rulers with internal sovereignty and protection from internal and external threats provided by the colonizing power—led to the separate independence of colonial areas, while the lack of either of the two conditions resulted in a merger. Based on extensive archival research, I substantiate this argument through two sets of comparative historical analysis of colonial units in Borneo and the Persian Gulf, focusing primarily on Brunei, Qatar, and Bahrain. I also conduct additional case studies on Kuwait and colonial entities in Micronesia, West Indies, and South Arabia to further test the external validity of my theory. After investigating the impact of oil, I extend the discussion to other natural resources. Focusing on coal, precious metals, and natural gas, I propose a theory that explains the varying effects of natural resources on territoriality. Natural resources can lead to amalgamation, separate independence, and secessionism after decolonization, depending on (1) their commercial value and (2) the timing of their discovery. This dissertation contributes to the literature on state formation by identifying previously overlooked factors and to that on the politics of natural resources by revising the existing understanding of the territorial impacts of natural resources.</p>
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