The Effect Of Political Violence On The Middle East And The Geopolitics Of Oil Essay

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

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.

In his paper about Iran’s nuclear program, Barry R. Posen emphasized that Iran’s nuclear program may result on regional and global instability. On regional level, neighboring countries of Iran will feel threatened with Iran’s nuclear power. This situation may lead them to follow Iran’s step in developing nuclear weapons even though they do not have the capability to ensure the security of their nuclear sites. Clearly, nuclear weapons proliferation will put the Middle East in escalating dangerous situation. On global level, the U.S. and its allies are concerned that the situation in the Middle East may harm their national interests. The Middle East is still a prominent producer of oil which is the main energy resource for industrial

War on ISIS has been been a problem in the world today. We have been going back and forth on rather we should declare war on them for the longest. My personal opinion I think we should because they 're never going to stop abusing america and kidnapping our american citizens until we bomb and kill them. Over the years different presidents have had their input on if we should declare war on them or not. For one, former president George W. Bush said yes and everybody thought that was a huge problem. People need to know that ISIS is a threat to the united states.

Throughout the history of the Middle East, Iran and Iraq have been in a dispute. In recent years many factors have caused a global involvement in this conflict. Many young adult Americans have grown up with this conflict as part of their daily evening news. So much so that many people now pay little attention to this constant strife and haven’t stopped to wonder--Why is the United States involved and how did the Iraq War begin? In order to gain understanding, it is essential to explore the various aspects of land, religion, power, and oil and events which led to the Iraq War.

Oil was found at Masjed Soleyman in southeastern Iran on May 26, 1908, and three years later was piped down to a newly built refinery at Abadan on the Iranian side of the Shatt-Al-Arab, not many miles below Basra.1(Stephen, 1991) Its global importance eas immediately recognized, not just by the Admiralty in London, looking for new sources of supply for its oil-fired battleships, but in other European capitals as well leading to a brief British-German-Turkish skirmish for control of the pipeline at the start of World War 1.2(Wilfred, 2007) Oil was next found in the Persian Gulf, beginning with Bahrain in 1931; there were subsequent discoveries in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Trucial states, and Oman. By 1960 the smaller Gulf states were producing 15 percent of the world 's oil, with another 10 percent or so coming from Iraq and Iran.3(Longrigg, Oil in the Middle East) By 1970 this had risen to 30 percent.4(BP Statistical Review, 2006) The story of the discovery, exploitation, and importance of Middle Eastern oil has been told in many different ways, and from many different points of view. For some it has been a source of Western triumphalism as in the case of the Aramco story , in which brave Texas "pioneers" conquer the world 's last oil frontier.5(Wallace, 1971) For others, like the Arab novelist Abad Al-Rahman Munif, it is a tale of woe, as the lives of nomadic people are disrupted by the appearance of prisons and exploitative local officials.6(Cities of Salt, 1989)

Oil has been a coveted resource since the early twentieth century. Global oil powers are a major component of the world economy. For this reason predominant oil producers have experienced numerous power struggles and violent outbreaks over the years. Due to the newfound independence of many Middle Eastern countries in the 1960s, many rich oil fields were accessed for the first time, providing new competitors for the hegemonic American "Seven Sisters." Tensions rose between the United States and many Middle Eastern countries not only as a result of competition, but also due to several oil-related wars that broke out in the region. The years that encompassed the strained relationship between the U.S. and OPEC-involved countries proved to be a

Social scientists argue that rentier oil economies have a negative effect on the development of democratic political systems. However, the nature of the political, economic, and social dysfunctions in rentier oil states is being increasingly shaped by the changes in the global climate. Global climate change is expected to have major effects on energy production and consumption, access to food and water, as well as, impact on infrastructure and transportation around the world. These effects will impact international and national security, as well as, the nature of conflict, the political system, and internal and external migration patterns. The effects of global climate change can already be felt in shaping the nature of conflict and its outcomes

Conflict in the Middle East has occurred for many centuries. It’s been between Muslims, Christians and even Jews. An example of their conflict is the believed claims on Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world. Jews and Muslims both believe they have religious claims on Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been divided between Israel and Palestine for almost 70 years. Each religion, Islam and Judaism, recognize Jerusalem as a holy place. In the middle of the 20th century, Jewish settlers pushed Muslim Arabs out of their homes and recognized Jerusalem on their land. Most currently, on December 6th, the current president, Donald Trump, broke with previous United States foreign policy and proclaimed that the United States would distinguish Israel’s

Oil has repeatedly been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Whereas this is an overemphasis, oil has been the utmost key, nonhuman resource of 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 prominence of this product. The book was published by Simon and Schuster in 2011 in New York, and contains 928 pages, as its ISBN is 1439134839. This research paper aims to provide a book review on Daniel Yergin’s “The Prize.”

By the year 1948, there was a massive amount of tension that had built-up in the Middle-East. This tension had in fact originated 19 centuries earlier, and had started due to the differences in both religion and nationalism between the Jews and Arabs. After the Romans gained control of Judea, this caused the diaspora of Jews to all the parts of the world. Eventually, the majority of Jews did return back to the region, after the official establishment of the state of Israel, and this led to the Arab-Israel War of Liberation, in which surrounding Arab states, such as Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan attacked Israel in order to regain this land, which originally belonged to Palestine. The Arabs were defeated, and this increased the nationalism

were chosen by God to set up a state of Israel where they could not be

This so called “oil-curse” has hindered both the political and economic growth in the MENA region. Although it has hindered it, I don’t mean in the negative side were money isn’t flowing into these countries, I mean that the countries are not in the best health. With having oil, and being able to sell it at huge profits come at big loses for the citizens for these various countries. Even though countries like Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are quite rich, the amount of political corruption happening in these countries. Political corruptions in the government has caused the political growth in these country’s to be turned upside down and many rebel groups have taken over the region. In the MENA region, this “oil-curse” has gained the region in wealth, however the way the wealth is being spent isn’t aiding to the countries growth. And in having such wealth, and it being spent in such a way, the countries are very easily paying for their political ideologies and aiding rebels whom many considered terrorist.

The previous part of the essay mostly focused on internal political dimensions of instability and conflict in the Arab part of the Gulf. Other factors of instability in the Gulf belong to the systemic level of the Gulf subregion. One of these factors is the existing regional security architecture, which fosters dependence on the U.S. to provide means of defence and deterrence.

the conflict in the middle east between 1948-1973 was not purely fuelled by the interest and concerns of the superpowers but rather of a series of conflictual incidents, aswell as the main wars that took place from the years from 1948-1967 such as the: 1948 War, The Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973. But although the conflict was not fuelled by the superpowers, the influence of the superpowers and the reach of the superpowers into the Middle East was evident in the years both prior and following 1978. But even despite the influence and interests of the superpowers between and including 1948-1967 being undeniably evident, the extent of this influence cannot be said to have “fuelled the conflict”.