Natural Resource Wealth In The United States

In our society, oil is one of the core requirements. Whether it is to drive from a point A to a point B or to fly between distant countries, oil always had a fundamental impact on our civilization. Its impact is felt, on a daily basis and under many aspects. Not a day goes by without hearing about the Brent's changing undulation, on the markets in New York or London. Some have thought that the desire to gain control of Iran's oil resources was the core of the CIA's intervention in that country, in the 1950s. In recent years, it was considered, by left-wing groups, that the war in Iraq was based upon an attempt of foreign control over the Iraqi petroleum resources. Even though both events have an unquestioned place

“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.”

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

From the 1800’s to present day, the Middle East has undergone many changes and continuities causing formation of their national identity, main factors that contributed were social aspects on society, government structure, and the strong religious roots they possess. The majority of changes occurred through the society aspects with the treatment of women and the discovery of oil. In Middle Eastern history women have had limited rights and have always been unequal to men. Women have always remained very conservative; being sheltered from other men not being able to go in public being covered from head to toe. The discovery of oil has also created many opportunities for the Middle East giving them a national identity and increasing economy.

According to Diamond, oil-states can be generally defined as countries whose economies are dominated by oil. Among “the twenty-three countries whose economies are most dominated by oil today, not a single one of them is a democracy. (Diamond 74)” When oil initially becomes a large source of revenue for countries, negative effects immediately occur. One major reason for this is that when an economy is dominated by

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

The damning picture of the state of the Arab world painted in this UN report cannot be blamed on America, or Israel, or global capitalism. The blame lies squarely with the dictators under whom the Arab people have suffered, who have over a long period stolen and squandered the region's wealth, just as Communist apparatchiks did under the Soviet system.

Oil and other natural resources are an important source of wealth. States and their leaders are eager to get access to the highly-valued resources, perhaps gain control over them. However, lack of democracy in the oil-rich countries could be explained by the European colonization in the region,

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.

They are effective able to buy off dissent by redistributing oil money back to the rest of society. Many of these Middle Eastern countries though have extremely young populations with very little skills or opportunities. This and the recent Arab Spring threaten many of the Sheikdoms. These Sheikdoms operate on tribal autocracies which are ruled and organized by clan than by state. Their success from the energy sector and their new investments into other economic sectors could keep tribal autocracy as a possibility for many nations in the

The ambition of the often autocratic leaders to acquire more land, which may bring them access to oil, water or arable land. The problem according to Sørli et. al is “scarcity” and “abundance” (147). Water is scarce, and oil is in abundance, but the access to both is limited. According to our text, the new “water wars” have emerged as a major source of conflict, in addition to the “oil wars” (Anderson et. al, 226). Water is scarce in the Middle East, and will continue to dwindle as the population rises. Not every country has the same access to the water sources, which will naturally cause problems. For example, Israel has control of the Golan, and Egypt of the Nile, and Kuwait of the Persian Gulf. Oil is in abundance, but only to a limited number of countries in the Middle East causing great economic disparity between those who have, and those who do not. Kuwait, having access to the Persian Gulf, produces a large supply of oil to international players. Given its high value internationally, and its worth, oil is much sought after.

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.

Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy. Shipments of oil account for 87 percent of total exports and for 46 percent of GDP. In recent years, in order to diversify the economy, the government has been investing in telecommunications, petrochemicals, natural gas exploitation and power generation sectors.

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

The UAE 's economy is the most diversified in the Gulf and the wider region. There’s no income tax. The gross domestic product is 67,616 dollars US per capita. The country oil and gas reserves are among the richest in the world. Successful efforts at economic diversification have reduced the portion of GDP based on oil and gas output to twenty five percent with a plan to push it to zero within next fifty years (Renewable Energy Prospects: United Arab Emirates p. 30). Low prices of oil have prompted the UAE to take steps to reduce its spending on country wide social programs, including eliminating fuel subsidies in August 2015. The IMF recently praised the vision and fiscal policies adopted by the country that