The Economics & Political Situation Of Middle East

The political and economic situation of the Middle East

6 questions

Where is “Middle” East exactly? Why there are so many conflicts & wars? What’s OPEC, what does it do? Why Dubai is so rich? How is the debt crisis i

n Dubai? Why there are so many terrisit organizations? What is the future of Middle East?

1:Where is “Middle” East exactly?

Hard to define. Middle East = West Aisa+ Egypt+Yurkey-Afghanistan

1:Where is “Middle” East exactly?( cont.)

2: Why there are so many conflicts & wars?

1947 - UN General Assembly proposes to divide Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. 1948 - Israel declares independence 1948 - The first Arab-Israeli war (the 1st Middle East war) Israeli and Palestinian nationalism petroleum becomes important political factor 1952 - After a revolution in Egypt the monarchy is overthrown 1954 - Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes president of Egypt 1954 - Central Treaty Organization 1956 - Suez Crisis (the 2nd) 1963 - Ba'th Party comes to power in Syria and stages military coup in Iraq under the leadership of General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr and Colonel `Abd a

s-Salām `Arif 1964 - Abdul Rahman Arif stages military coup in Iraq against the Ba'th Party and brings his brother, Abdul Salam Arif, to power 1967 - Six-Day War, Israel occupies large Arab territories (the 3rd) 1968 - Ba'athists stage second military coup under General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein is made vice president of Iraq 1970 - Gamal Abdel Nasser dies, Anwar Sadat becomes president of Egypt 1971 - The Aswan High Dam is completed with Soviet help in finance and construction; independence of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE 1973 - Yom Kippur War (the 4th) 1974 - The PLO is allowed to represent the people of Palestine in the UN 1975-1990 - Lebanese Civil War 1978 - Camp David Accords 1979 - Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq; Iranian Revolution; Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty 1980-1989 - Iran–Iraq War 1981 - Murder of Anwar Sadat 1982 - Lebanon War (the 5th) 1987-1990 - First Intifada 1991 - The Gulf War 1993 - Oslo Accords 2003 - The 2003 Iraq War 2006 - The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict; Saddam Hussein executed for "crimes against humanity"

In the short span of 50 years after World War II, the Middle East broke out over 70 small-scale wars and conflicts, in which there are even dozens of large-scale wars.

2: Why there are so many conflicts (cont.)

NATIONALISM–countries wanted to assert their independence

e.g. ISRAEL–Israel and its neighbors remain a flashpoint of Israeli/Arab conflict (5 large-scale wars)

OIL–countries wanted to maximize oil profits Religion Water resource (in the future)

3:What’s OPEC, what does it do?

OPEC---The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries First headquarted in Geneva, Switzerland, now in Vienna, Austria

Mideast occupies 6 seats----Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, among 12 member countries in OPEC

Middle East accounts for 55.6% of total proven oil resources in the world in 2009 Its overall oil production is 29.9% of all oil production worldwide.

OPEC was founded to unify and coordinate members' petroleum policies so as to achieve the maximum cartel interest.

3:What’s OPEC, what does it do?(cont.)

～ 70%

3:What’s OPEC, what does it do?(cont.)

Event: Began as a mortgage crisis in the United States. Oil (a commodity) became a safe haven. Speculation drove up the price of oil to $147/barrel. Industries and businesses relying on oil suffered. With demand destroyed, price falls to $41/barrel. OPEC argues that fair price of oil is $80/barrel.

Result: The oil price always be around $80/barrel.

4:Why Dubai is so rich? How is the debt crisis in Dubai?

Dubai has----- the world's first seven-star hotel the world's largest shopping mall the world's largest indoor ski field

Dubai=luxury

4:Why Dubai is so rich? How is the debt crisis in Dubai?( cont.)

The reasons:A:non-oil trade (70% of UAEUnited Arab Emirates )

B:oil production

C:port-city, convenient transportation, location

D:Free and stable economic policies

It’s not multiple choice, it’s multiple choices.

4:Why Dubai is so rich? How is the debt crisis in Dubai?( cont.)

Till November 25, 2009, Dubai World had debts of $59-billion

Worldwide financial system worried Moody's and Standard & Poor's heavily down

graded the debt of various Dubai government-related entities

Currently, the Dubai’s financial crisis still exists

4:Why Dubai is so rich? How is the debt crisis in Dubai?( cont.)

2 main reasons for Dubai debt crisisA:Economic Development Model in Dubai

B:The impact of American financial crisis, bubble economy.

5:Why there are so many terrorist organizations?

How “Many”: ½ of the U.S. State Dept.’s list of recognized t

errorist organizations exist there. Just in palestine, there are 7 outstanding and

active terrorist organizations.

5:Why there are so many terrorist organizations ? (cont.)

1st: poverty poverty is the sedbed of terrorism

oil belongs to the privileges

2nd: the result of intensified religious conflict

3rd: 9/11 in U.S. 9/11 was a turning point

Terrorist organizations aren’t happy with U.S. hegemonism

6:What is the future of Middle East?

Foreign relations

A:The world's major powers(e.g. Russia, EU countries, Japan)

---cooperative relationship

B:United States

----maintain its strong position

　 ----"next American century“

　　 ----antagonistic relationship

　　　 ----fundamental, long-term, repeated

6:What is the future of Middle East?(cont.) Economy

strength: new tech, money, natural resource

weakness:

A: War, butter or cannon?

B: illiteracy, low-quaility labor

C: gap between rich and poor

“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”-Karl Marx

“We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.”-George Bernard Shaw

Thank you for listening