Comparing the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia Essay

They formed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. Since the OPEC was instated to protect the interests of oil producers, it could be seen as an example of regional integration. The OPEC is widely considered, throughout the world, as a cartel. This would be an intellectual misconception. The concept of cartel would consider oligarchies limiting competition and monopolies increasing prices. Oppositely, many international oil producers are not members of the OPEC. These non-members saw a fourfold increase in the oil prices, during the 1973 oil embargo. In A history of the modern Middle East, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton stated that the immediate objective of the OPEC was “to utilize the collective bargaining power of its member states to pressure the Western oil companies to increase oil prices.”. However, the birth of the OPEC did not occur, overnight. In 1947, the Venezuelan and Iranian delegations held talks in Washington, to coordinate their oil policies. In OPEC: Past and Present, Abdul Amir Q. Kubbah stated that the Arab league had a project of creating an “association of Arab oil-producing countries.”, since 1945. The first OPEC-type grouping occurred in 1953, when Iraqi and Saudi delegates joined forces. The agreement between these two states was the first to involve cooperation from both governments. The Arab League held a summit in Cairo, in 1959. During that summit, “views have been exchanged concerning the

What's more, Saudi Arabia political system is very conservative when compared to the United States. For Muslim countries our freedoms can be seen as threatening by those who value that structure. For that reason, not all countries share the same philosophy in regards to their citizens’ right. For example, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its implementation of Islamic law and its poor human rights record. In the same way the United States has been criticized for being too liberal. Civil liberties safeguard individual liberty and therefore, are valuable to every human being. More importantly, prevent the government from misusing power. Without a doubt, the highest law in the United States is the U.S. Constitution and such is fabricated by some amendments that are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees that the government can never deprive people in the U.S. of certain fundamental rights. As a result, American citizens are protected by the First Amendment which, reads the following “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (“First Amendment").

Currently Saudi Arabia is one of the leading producers of oil in the world. However, it is losing its foothold on the market. Many countries, like North America, are increasing their oil production and are looking for ways to become less dependent on foreign oil. The increased competition has caused oil prices to decrease. By producing their own oil, countries not only will increase their revenues, but will also reduce their need to rely on foreign oil. By reducing their need foreign an oil a country does not have to worry that their oil supply will be cut off if they go to war.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are two countries that sit on opposite sides of the Sunni/Shiite divide, which can be argued as being the most prominent issue the Middle East faces today. Saudi Arabia is predominantly known to be a Sunni state, while Iran is largely inhabited by Shia Muslims. Both countries aspire to be the hegemonic powers of the region. Ethnically, Iran is known to be a Persian land, unlike Saudi Arabia that is known to be in the heart of the Arab world. These two countries are separated by the Arabian Gulf and throughout the twentieth century and up until today, the relationship between the two countries has been notoriously contentious. Within the past few years especially relationships between the two states have been very fragile with Saudi Arabia ending diplomatic ties early in 2016. The two states are strained over many issues of which are, interpretations of Islam, oil export policy and hegemonic regional leadership.

The Gulf houses half of the world’s oil reserves and a third of the natural gas. The Gulf States still continue to supply the international markets with a significant amount of the hydrocarbons. The stability of the region is crucial for the stability in the global oil markets. The Gulf also hosts one of the most strategically and important choke points in global trade, The Straits of Hormuz, which moves about 35% of the global seaborne oil, natural gas and other trade goods.

The Middle East is one of the birthplaces of human kind’s civilization. Since the Ancient Egypt, Sumer, the Arab Empire, Turkey Empire, or even to present day, the Middle East has always been a valuable strategic point for not only because of its geographic location but also it full of petroleum and nature gas. According the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) that 66% of the global oil reserves are in the Middle East and only 6% in North America, this makes a lot of powerful countries want to share a pieces of the Middle East, Stephen mentions “Much of the world 's oil wealth exists along the Persian Gulf, with particularly large reserves in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait

The United States relationship with Saudi Arabia is one that begun on February 14, 1945 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met King Al-Saud at the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal. After World War II the United States became the most influential foreign power in Saudi Arabia. US’s main interest was focused in the direction of the oil industry. Then in 1960 Saudi Arabia was one of the main driving forces in the creation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). During the Cold War, Saudis favored the United States while the two also continued to but heads over the issue concerning the ever present Israeli-Arab conflict. Americas constant support for Israel has, and will continue to be an issue that brings about confrontation between the Saudis and the United States. Foreign relation ties never were as intense as they were during the Persian Gulf War. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait posed a potential threat to the Saudis provoking the United States to intervene. The Saudis allowed the United States to have access to their bases during this time. Since that time, our troops have remained there which is something that has led to much controversy because many Islamist believe that we our occupying their holy land. This has sparked many extremist to take action, most notably Osama Bin Laden who used this reasoning to justify the horrors of 9/11. Post 9/11 opened a new chapter to US-Saudi

Conflict over energy resources—and the wealth and power they create—has become an increasingly prominent feature for geopolitics particularly in the Middle East . The discovery of oil in the late nineteenth century added a dimension to the region as major outside states powers employed military force to protect their newly acquired interests in the Middle East. The U.S.’s efforts to secure the flow of oil have led to ever increasing involvement in the Middle East region’s political affairs and ongoing power struggles. By the end of the twentieth century, safeguarding the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf had become one of the most important functions of the U.S. military establishment. The close relationship between the United States and the Saudi royal family was formed in the final months of World War II, when U.S. leaders sought to ensure preferential access to Saudi petroleum. The U.S. link with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region has demonstrated to be greatly beneficial to both parties, yet it has also led to ever deepening U.S. involvement in regional politics.

Education remains to be the priority of all nations around the globe. Most countries devote vast resources to guarantee equal education opportunities to all their students. Most education systems are developed to meet the economic and social demands of the country, both locally and globally. As the world’s 8th highest education spender, Saudi Arabia initiates an overhaul on the education system. It is the largest country in the Middle East. The Saudi Arabian education has gone through an astounding transformation. Initially, education was only available to few people who were children of the wealthy families. However, the transformation of the Saudi Education is now offering education to all children regardless of their social status.

Most countries affected by the civil wars have been cut off from any regional connections therefore they weren’t able to attract many of their regular customers. The UAE has taken that to their advantage by reeling in the customers who would normally shop in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen and give them the opportunity to shop in places in the UAE instead of in a dangerous country. This has led to a 10% rise in spending by shoppers affected by the Arab Spring. The United Arab Emirates is known as a modern country with a stable government system that the public seems to respect. Governments from different countries such as Syria have shut down Internet and power connections to avoid the world to see the troublesome county. Because of these barricades, countries such as the United States and England have been keeping a close eye, especially since they cannot export and import products between countries. Perhaps the Middle East would’ve been better off without the Arab Spring.

Saudi Arabia has an economy that is largely dependent on oil, with the government maintaining the biggest control over the country 's significant economic activities. Saudi Arabia owns about 16% of the global oil reserves and is the number one exporter of oil (Saudi Arabia, 2013). In addition, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was instrumental in the formation of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) group, which initially comprised Iraq, Venezuela, Iran, Kuwait and Venezuela (Energy indicators, 2004). Currently, the petroleum industry constitutes about 80% of the country 's budgetary incomes; about 40% of the country 's GDP and 87% of Saudi 's export earnings. Agriculture, in addition to petroleum products, has been a major contributor to the kingdom’s economy since 1970s (Saudi Arabia, 2013). The country has been able to produce enough agricultural products for their consumption as well as surplus for exportation to the GCC member countries.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the most important tourist destinations in the region. The Arab spring had a very minor effect on the country’s tourism as it did not have a revolution but tourists in countries such as the Americas and Eastern Asia and some European countries were still slightly worried to visit any Arab country as it could be hit by the domino effect of the Arab Spring. UAE is not a neighboring country of any of the countries that had revolutions but it is in the same region.

     In the heart of the Middle East is a country known by many Westerners for its oil production and, often, extremist beliefs of groups within the country. The country is Saudi Arabia, and though it is thought of by many as a rather backward country, Saudi Arabia has a rich history and culture, and it is a country that revolves around Islam and the worship of Allah as the one true God.

The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) is a federation of seven Emirates that was formed on December 2 1971. It is located between the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and it is bordered by Saudi Arabia and Oman. The country has a total population of 3,740,000 as of 2004. Approximately 85% of those resideing the in UAE are not native to the country. Arabic is the official language,

UAE is located at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Arabian Gulf sometimes referred to as Persian Gulf, bordering Oman , and Saudi Arabia to the south, sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran (CIA World Factbook). The population is estimated to be 9.446 million and consists of 1.4 million Emirati citizens and 7.8 million expatriates, majority of whom came from India, Pakistan, Philippines and other Arab countries. It was established in 1971 as a federation of seven emirates (states). Each emirate is governed by a monarch; together, along with some elected representatives, they form the Federal Supreme Council – legislative organ. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates.