The Effects Of Natural Resources On A National Scale

In 1972, the production of oil in Iraq was nationalized. Seven years later in 1979, the production of oil peaked at 3.5 million barrels of oil produced per day (Penn Wharton). A year later in 1980 a war between Iran and Iraq broke out and the war decreased Iraq’s foreign exchange reserves and left the country with more than $40 million in debt (Penn Wharton). On top of that, in 1990 the leader of Iraq decided to invade the country of Kuwait which depleted their foreign exchange reserves even

Often called “The Crossroads of the World”, the Middle East stands between three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Over thousands of years, migrating traders and conquerors crossed this region and spread the ideas, inventions, and achievements of many civilizations. It is an incredibly important part of the world with rich history, important resources, and deep religious and cultural traditions. However, in the past decades up to today, the Middle East has been consumed by conflict and chaos. Although different circumstances surround each issue, religion, terrorism, disputes over the control of natural resources, and weak governance primarily allow conflict to persist in the Middle East.

Some resources are so valuable and are becoming so rare that countries will fight over them. Examples of these resources include gas, oil and even water. Since these resources are pretty much immobile and can’t be moved it means that countries have to take complete control of the area in which these resources are located. If this area

Now there is still conflict between the West and Middle East, with the activities of radical Islamic groups, and the fear and stereotypes created by them. While the West sits back and watches the continuous bombings and hardships of the Middle East on TV, the Middle East is forced to take everything in the face.

For decades, the Middle East has been a hot bed for one conflict after another. Countries like Russia, China, and North Korea are using

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.

The Middle East is a region of Western Asia and Egypt; some of the countries in this region are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. According to Anderson, Seibert & Wagner (2006), this region is of vast geo-economic importance and since ancient times, it has been a center of world affairs. This part matters to almost all superpowers. The geographic factors that contribute to the strategic importance of the Middle East are; trade routes, oil, terrain or geography, ideology, and faith. The Middle East has always been a destination for both tourists and entrepreneurs.

In the minds of people today, the Middle East is a country of terrorism, violence, and war. What they fail to realize is that there are reasons behind the instability in the region. There have been many factors that have contributed to the unsteadiness of the Middle East today. In addition to the collapse of the Gunpowder Empires, particularly the Ottoman Empire, the countries of the Middle East have also suffered from ongoing religious divisions, wars and revolts in the area, and western intervention, particularly in oil and arms.

Following the events of World War II, the Middle East region of the world became a focal point for the United States. From natural resources, like oil, to world politics, this part of the world has been a hot-bed of activity since 1945. World Wars Impact The first main issue in the Middle East began as World War I came to a close.

For decades, the United States and fellow western nations have been heavily involved with and invested in the Middle East. Geographically, the Middle East region contains a large percentage of the industrialized world’s most prized resource, oil. Throughout this time, the United States has participated in Gulf War I, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, and numerous other contingencies and operations. Most recently, the region fell further into turmoil with the civil unrest and uprising in Syria, the formation of ISIS, and the injection of influence from competing world superpowers. Within this latest conflict, the United States government faces significant challenges to vital national interests due to the high geopolitical stakes in the region.

is unable to avoid the economic impact of political instability in the Middle East on the price of oil. Consider whether the current low price of oil is due to domestic crude oil production, or Saudi Arabia’s attempt to flood the market in an effort to drown out the economic benefit of black market oil sales that finance Daesh. In a free market, globalized economy any commodity, oil included, will be sold to the highest bidder. Meaning, oil prices in the U.S., and therefore the domestic economy, remain susceptible to Middle East political instability. If the U.S. is going to pay down national debt, then it needs to restrain its tendency to rely on expensive military interventions in the Middle

Another source of conflict as reported by Sørli et. al stems from the religious differences. As a whole, the Middle East is comprised of followers of Islam. But within the Islamic religion are the Sunni (which account for the majority), and the Shia. Tension lies between the two sects, especially given the fact that the Shia often hold the positions of power (Sørli, 147). Another major

With fearsome, terrifying headlines featured in popular news sites like The Economist, the Middle East seems to be an even more chaotic region of the world. Understandably, when one thinks about the Middle East, one cannot help but imagine the constant chaos and political strife led by corrupt officials and leaders against democracy. This short-sighted and heavily biased perspective of the Middle East may not be entirely incorrect, however it neither does the Middle East justice. The general people do not fully realize the rich political history and circumstances that led to such a diverse history in one of the oldest civilized regions of the world. Middle Eastern history dates back to nearly 2500 BC in Mesopotamia and since then, has been

James Madison best describes human nature in the Federalist No. 10 by understanding that people serve in their best interest, and in doing so infringe upon the rights of others. This leads us to the question of whether citizens are exclusively morally entitled to a share of natural resources. Personally, I believe citizens are not ‘exclusively’ entitled to natural resource shares. This is due to several factors in play i.e. citizens being immoral, contradicting human rights, and citizen’s lack of outcome responsibility in the end. Nevertheless, we will address the United Nations’ principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and discuss how the theory can be detrimental to states’ sovereignty in the end. First and foremost, one must better understand the influence that natural resources have on humans in specific.

Since the Industrial Revolution, natural resources have been under increasing pressure. The significant changes in the amount of natural resources we have left have led to many issues, such as global public health and global development. Other areas affected include the loss of forest, water and air pollution, decrease in fresh water supply and degradation of soil. Today we are currently seeing dramatic increases in global population. As the world’s population continues to rise, natural resources will continue to dwindle as long as we remain the same. The one thing that I would say is the most challenging for humans is being able to advance in life, but still not destroy the environment. If you look at most developed countries, it is evident that they consume resources way more rapidly than developing countries. The problem with this is that all of these countries are consuming faster than they can produce. Places like Africa and Asia are experiencing population momentum. These areas have a tendency for population growth that continues to grow because of the high concentration of people having kids. Better living conditions are definitely needed in these countries because of the limited amount of resources being consumed by these regions. The over exploitation of these resources will eventually lead to problems for future uses.