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 neo-
imperialism 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.