Middle East Culture - Final Exam

Question 1 The term oil curse is a term that carries with it a dual meaning, almost always what’s regard as a curse by one nation is considered a profit by another. In Dana Blankenhorn’s article The Oil Curse, Bankenhorn uses the example of the Arab world during the Dark Ages, where the Arab world was the symbol of intellectual thought and development with its focal point centered over Babylon. Now, however, since the beginning of the early 20th century starting with Europe capitalizing on natural resources in the Middle East the oil curse has taken reality. Now instead, the focus has shifted to making natural resources the base of their economic structure. Colonialism of course played no role in relieving the oil curse as, what was covered in lesson 7, decolonization left formerly colonized countries in a hole of economic debt. In the late 20th century the importance of oil had been fully realized by the world and decolonization was in full swing. For the Middle East, the oil curse emerged as the wealthy class in Middle Eastern nations monopolizing the profit gained from oil production. This in turn fostered corrupt governments that kept the money for themselves and the investors as opposed to giving it to the people. This is exemplified in lesson 6 with Table 2 –Top World Oil Producers, Exporters, Consumers, and Importers, 2004 and Table 3 – Corruption Perception Index 2005 where all top 14 oil exporters (Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway, Iran, Venezuela, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Nigeria, Mexico, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Kazakhstan, and Qatar) are also the top 14 on the Corruption Perception Index. The problem of oil is best explained by Robert Looney who states that “unless properly managed, oil ravenous more often than not undermine the economics, political and social fabric of countries.” Today, Iraq has a country has been given a second chance to overcome the oil curse that had consumed its economy prior to the ousting of Saddam Hussein in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The main challenge for the United State and the new Iraqi government is how to manage the profits gained from its oil exports. Looney in his article Can Iraq Overcome the Oil Curse?, outlines three possible solutions. The first is privatization, where government control in the oil economy would be completely separated leaving it in the hands of its citizens. The second is disbursement where rules and laws are established that ensure that a portion of the profits are given to the general populace. The third is transparency where if the government retains control over its oil exporting than all actions, operations, and deals have to remain open to the public eye and criticism. These solutions aren’t necessarily just for Iraq, they are also the basis for any country suffering from or wanting to recover from an oil curse. Work Cited Looney, Robert (2006).Can Iraq Overcome the Oil Curse?. World Economics. 7, 24-27. Blankenhorn, D (2005 March 18). The oil Curse Moore's Lore. Corante, Retrieved June 27, 2008, from http://mooreslore.corante.com/archives/2005/03/18/the_oil_curse.php

Question 2 Neo-imperialism can be defined as the means of seizing territory or establishing control either directly or indirectly through economic and political pressure. This term has come to be used to describe pertaining events since the late 20th century being the modern equivalent to European colonialism and imperialism in the 19th century. To the Arab world neo-imperialism serves to alienate the Arabs from the world economy, first with British colonialism and then with Russian capitalism monopolizing the region for its resources. Today there is no better example of neo-imperialisms effect on the Middle East than present day Iraq. In Charles Tripp’s article Iraq: The Imperial Precedent he describes how Iraq was forged by the British with the help of the League of Nations Mandate. Having ousted all major national leaders, the British found themselves in position where the citizens felt “resentful of infidel rule” forcing the British send more military forces to secure the region from increasingly violent riots. The British in the end after loosing more lives and spending more money than expected, established governance under “Ottoman administrative and military elites” in an effort to regain stability. Now with United States involvement in Iraq one can’t help but notice the neo-imperialistic traits in current conflicts. Upon seizing Iraq the United States followed the British’s lead in displacing the Iraqi government and military. As a result many political elites and even more lower class ex-military citizens, found themselves without jobs and in a system that no longer supported their at least some of their ideals. Critics argue though that the neoimperialism shows itself in the United States interest in the region due to the oil. Whatever the imperialist trait, displacing the Iraqi government destabilized the control over the feuding religious sects and with the increase in violence also spurred a growth in anti-western fundamentalist groups. History has shown though, that as long as western imperialism has a presence in the Middle East and as long as there is a occupying force in the region, especially Iraq, anti-western fundamentalist groups will be around to carry out terrorism. Work Cited Tripp, Charles. "Iraq: The Imperial Precedent." 2003. http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/history/2003/0103Tripp.htm (accessed 27 June 2008).

Question 3

Based on the list of Middle Eastern countries from MidEastWeb.org and using data from the CIA World Factbook, the diversified picture of the Middle East is clear. IN Afghanistan living is extremely poor being landlocked and trying to redevelop its agriculture program around produce other than opium. In Algeria, the country serving as the fourth largest oil exporter has made it a considerably wealthy country. In Bahrain the economy is stable with the production and export of oil and aluminum. Egypt is considerably well off given its large reserve of oil on top of its high exports. In Iraq oil dominates the economy as is also true in Iran. Israel on the other hand depends more on imports of natural resources, but has a self-sustaining agriculture and industrial program coupled with immense help from the United States. Jordans economy is plagued by a lack in natural resources including water. Kuwait like Saudi Arabia is another rich country from its oil exports. Lebanon is struggling not to go into debt after a civil war in 1875-90 to crippled its economy. Morocco relies heavily on its agricultural export and foreign aid. Oman like Yemen is suffering from a decline in available oil resources relying more heavily on trade to supplement the losses in natural gas production. Pakistan like Afghanistan is a war torn country with a highly impoverished economy. Qatar and Sudan are rising stars in oil production with vast amounts of oil and increased production. Syria relies mostly on petroleum and agricultural to support nearly half of their economy. Tunisia has one of the most diverse economies with emphasis on agriculture, mining, tourism, and manufacturing. Turkey also has a diverse economy with reliance agriculture, basic industry, banking, transportation, and communication. And the United Arab Emirates has seen a significant increase in development since its discovery of oil. For the majority of the Middle East the economic structure is centered around the reliance of natural gas. However in the years to come the Most Developed Countries (MDC) will be looking towards reducing their reliance on oil. Further scientists have speculated how much natural gas is left in the region, as several of the countries are starting to experience a shortage of oil in their reservoirs. These shortages are forcing the countries to take a step out of their element and seek new alternatives to their economy. In the coming years it seems that the Middle East will have to become less dependant on exporting oil and more diversified in the private sectors of their economies. Work Cited "CIA World Factbook." https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (accessed 27 June 2008). "Middle East At a Glance." 28 June 2008.http://www.mideastweb.org/countries.htm (accessed 28 June 2008).

Question 4

In this course a number of cultural aspects have been presented. Each with equally significant characteristics, though the one issue that I feel has had the greatest impact on the Middle East is its history as I will explain in the following. The history of the Middle East stretches back, long before Islam or the Arab world had been established. What made the history of the land so important though, was the meaning it carried for religions that have territorial importance in the area for the past thousands of years. History though has only served to amplify the religious importance in the area with the rise of colonialism. European colonialism disrupted cultural boundaries defined by ethnic groups, natural resources, and most importantly land that was considered sacred to various groups. With the divisions made after the League of Nations Mandate, and the arbitrary borders made in Africa and the Middle East, dividing cultural groups and forcing rival societies to live together. Most of the problems faced today in the Middle East are a product of histories repeating events of different civilizations entering the land, dividing and relocating the people as the deem necessary.