Economy Iraq Largely Relies On Oil Mining

“There is, then, an economic basis for the absence of democracy in the Arab world. But it is structural. It has to do with the ways in which oil distorts the state, the market, the class structure, and the entire incentive structure. Particularly in an era of high global oil prices, the effects of the oil curse are relentless: Not a single one of the 23 countries that derive most of their export earnings from oil and gas is a democracy today.”

Iran was faced with high unemployment rates and immense property, as workers had low wages and protection, and the country was underdeveloped. Iranians lost hope for a better future, as the promises of a prosperous Iran made by the Shah were not coming true. For example, the Shah believed that developing an industrial base with multiple foreign contractors and corporations would be economically beneficial for the country. Due to these investments made, Iran's oil market was flourishing in the late 1970's. However, an increase in oil profits resulted in problems with absorbing funds, leading to an increase in spending. Iran was therefore hit with effects such as inflation and corruption. Another example is that the Shah hoped for a modernization program for Iran. With this, the hope was to limit the land one could hold, decreasing the financial gap between the wealthy and poor. The result was that wealthy families continued to be as wealthy and the economic status of peasants generally worsened. Modernization also negatively affected religious institutions relying on a network of exchange, as limited land made it harder for trade. A final consequence of land reform was that peasants were forced to move to cities, begging to Westerners in order to feed themselves. These peasants began to see the negative impact western culture had made in society. They found inner peace through

Oil has often been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Although this is an overemphasis, oil has been the key, nonhuman resource of the economy throughout the largest part of the 20th century. In the book “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power” by Daniel Yergin, the author illustrates the political, societal, economic, and geo-strategic importance of this product.

The two most important resources in this region are oil and water. The huge oil “deposits there and in the neighboring countries around the Persian Gulf (the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain) established these countries as some of the richest in the world” (Document F). Nevertheless, the countries who do not have as much access to oil are weak economically. Oil is the biggest export in the Middle East, and in a way, the amount of oil a country has determines how wealthy that country will be. Another component of oil is that countries and ethnic groups are disputing for the control of prices of this economic resource. It has gone to the far extent of foreign countries attempting to control the oil price and also the use of weapons for this (Document E). In addition, it is impossible for each country to have equal access to water due to the unbalanced distribution of these essential resources. As a result of this, these countries are fighting for as much control of water sources they can get. Radically, there are many countries in the Middle East that are striving to obtain as many natural resources to strengthen their economy and lifestyle, and it seems most obvious that the scarcity of these resources is a significant problem in the region

A regime change in Iran could see the lifting of American trade sanctions against Iran; U.S. sanctions have had an impact on Iran’s oil economy. Mohammed Akacem, a petroleum expert at Metropolitan State College of Denver said, “U.S. oil companies would love to go to Iran, so sanctions have retarded a little bit of Iran’s ability to improve its oil sector (qtd. in Beehner).” Securing another efficient source of oil would help to ease the American economy as alternative energy sources are developed, and workers are trained to perform the

Two-thirds of the world’s remaining oil reserves are in the Middle East which will make international policy imperative in the future (Campbell 2007). It is

“Every 10% drop in prices of oil adds 0.1% to the US economy, and the sooner the Iraqis start pumping, the faster the plunge in per-barrel prices. A quick war that ends with a new oil minister in place by the end of the year would bump up Iraq's production to 4 million barrels per day by 2006 from a current 2 million, collapsing prices into the low teens“ (Lynn J Cook 1).

In 2013, the GDP was at an all-time high, even compared to prior the invasion of 2003. Showing that despite several years of stifled growth the long-term effect of the reconstruction of Iraq is starting to look more positive. This contrasts with the previous view that the Iraqi economy has not been successfully reconstructed. This is because Iraq was not a failed state, therefore the Iraqi economy was not disastrous prior to the invasion. Meaning an improvement on GDP is a positive sign. The graph in figure 1 appears to show a similar reconstruction performed by the Hussein administration after the first Gulf War in the early 1990s. Suggesting that the US reconstruction effort has not been much better than an attempt by a corrupt regime which the US eliminated. However, the recent faltered of both the fortune of both the Iraqi economy and Iraqi people appears to correlate with the absent of the US in the country. Signifying that the heavy use of US money and corporations has led to a good short-term development but have led to a problem in long-term development. This is mainly due to a lack of expertise and skills to be able to deal with problems as noted previously. Two main examples of this are the health industry and education, health which has some of the best equipment

The Middle East could have used the money to get children proper education. Yet Saddam Hussein did not think that was as valuable as the military. History Alive acknowledges that “ Iraq has the second-largest oil reserves in the region, but from 1979 to 2003 a dictator names Saddam Hussein controlled Iran's oil income. He spent most of Iraq’s oil wealth building an army, buying weapons, and fighting wars. Very little of the money went to making life better for ordinary Iraqis.(363)” When Saddam Hussein was in power he thought that the income from the oil reserves was more important to use on fighting wars, instead of making life better for the people of Iraq. Saddam Hussein could have made the health care better, the education better and making the living conditions better. Saddam Hussein thought that it was a better idea to use the income for weapons and wars. Saddam Hussein could have made the lives of Iraqis better but instead he thought it was better to cause wars with other

Discoverers found Syria’s large deposits of oil fields in the 1980’s. Following this discovery, the government had decided to form partnerships with the foreign companies ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil. With Syrian economy being vastly socialist, there was a hindrance to most foreign investors. In January 2007, some reform came by way of new investment laws allowing foreign companies to export more of their profits. Therefore intriguing new foreign investors to have increased value in Syria (Unknown, “Background Note: Syria", 2011). The country’s large agricultural field is somewhat crippled due to many variables. Its farming and agricultural goods come largely from its rural areas. These farms and crops are 95% privately owned. Yet the government still controls selling locations for the goods. In addition, the transportation means for shipment of these goods (Raphaeli, 2007). The traditional farming and lack of modern irrigation equipment is a trend that largely hinders this department as well. Farming has crippled during droughts and times of seldom rainfall. Due to the 80% of farmers that depend on rain fed sources rather than irrigation systems (Dougherty, 2004). Much of the Syrian economy stands to need some degree of modern reform with internet, cellular, and credit card services

SOCIALLY, following the war with Iran in 1988, Iraq was ranked 50 in the 1990 UNDP Human Development Index, which measures national success in education, GDP, and health. Iraq was nearing the top of the middle range of countries in regard to the implementation of basic social services and infrastructure. However, under Saddam’s rule, the prosecution of Shiites and Kuwaitis was a normal occurrence. Called by some a genocide, the period of murder, terror, and persecution faced by these groups was the foundation for a long-lasting unrest within the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens. The rest of the Iraqi citizens, however, lived normal, comfortable lives. In the late 20th century, many traveled from afar to utilize and learn from Iraq’s intricate network of hospitals and social centers regarded as the best in the region. (CIA 2) However, constant war drained Iraq’s wealth and decimated its people. In the Iraq-Iran War, Saddam Hussein unwillingly forced Iraq into a disastrous attempt to overthrow the Islamist government in Iran. When the dust settled, over 200,000 Iraqis were dead, and more than twice this number were wounded. Iraq’s increasing debt, nearing about 75 Billion, soon had the Arab

While the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980's may have permanently altered the course of progress in Iran and Iraq, the war also altered the resulting permanent involvement of the rest of the world in the middle-east. The rich and complicated history in Iraq has established numerous cultural and ethnic traditions that all play a part in where the country is today. The Iran-Iraq War brought into focus some of those traditions and how they conflicted, while also bringing Iraq and its economic situation into the spotlight. Being on top of some of the most mineral rich soil in the world makes Iraq a major contributor to the world's economy through petroleum and crude oil exports. This, among other reasons, ties nations

In recent years, the Iraqi nation has endured a crisis that will forever remain in the hearts and minds of the Middle Eastern culture. However, the outcomes of the War on Iraq will not change the long-lasting and passionate traditions and memories that have been held in the country for decades. One major event that happened in Iraq’s history is that on October 3, 1932 Iraq was established as an independent nation. Iraq has always been a country in which respect and generosity have been highly valued and play an important cultural role in everyday life. Additionally, approximately ninety-five percent of Iraqis are Muslim, and therefore Islam is the official religion of this nation (Gutierrez 1). Furthermore, Iraq is a

industries which have made the autocrats of these countries stronger in more than one way. Because of nationalization of the oil industry had rulers of these countries,were able strengthen their powers and prominent examples include Mummer Qadaffi of Libya and Saddam Hussain of Iraq. Through nationalization of oil industry, autocrats are able to keep their finances secret as citizens do not realize that despite low taxes and other social policies, much of their country’s wealth is lost in theft,corruption,embezzlement. According to a 2010 survey, countries which have little oil wealth, there is some information regarding finances spent as opposed to those who are “oil rich”, where financial information is opaque. Oil wealth has also enabled the autocrats to fund the police force and keep them on their side.Oman and Saudi Arabian police were

The UAE is one of the riches nations in the world as measure by per capita GNP. The economy is primarily based on the oil