Oil
- Created by: emilywatters
- Created on: 05-06-19 11:18
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- How has the possession of oil impacted the domestic and international relations of the Middle East?
- Intro
- The discovery of oil marked the earliest traces of imperial interest in the region
- Winston Churchill argued for direct government involvement requesting control over Persia to guarantee cheap supplies for Britain
- Imperial interest in oil fundamentally shaped British policy/ involvement after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
- British mandate over three Ottoman provinces almost solely based on oil reserves
- The Rentier state
- a term used to explain the political dynamics of oil producing states
- rent comes into the state from outside, generated from the export of natural resources
- Patrimonial in that power is concentrated in the hands of a single ruler or small group of people
- rentierism often acts as an obstacle to the formation of legitimate and strong states
- since stability rests on an implicit social contact through which consent is bought via material welfare
- this model of statehood remains stable as long as state and society adhere to an implicit social contact between regime and society whereby political rights are substituted for state provided services
- since stability rests on an implicit social contact through which consent is bought via material welfare
- external or strategic rents can also be conceived of as bilateral or multilateral foreign aid payments such as foreign development assistance or military assistance
- Democracy and oil
- democracy is a contested term and even though economic wealth is argued to promote democracy it is said to have had the opposite effect in this case
- the abundance of natural resource wealth has been negatively linked with democracy known as the 'oil curse'
- the causal relationship between natural resources leading to economic development which in turn leads to increased probability of democracy is somehow turned negative here
- a legitimate state does not have to be a democratic state
- measurement of a strong vs weak state is often subject to a states ability to raise tax collections which requires widespread compliance by the people
- oil exporting rentier states have the opportunity to not tax the people/ impose only the minimum taxes and therefore do not require the consent of the people to be legitimate
- The Repression effect: states with large oil exports do not need their citizens consent rather they use oil revenues to suppress any social mobilisation against the regime
- if the state does not need the support of society there is less demand for representation and accountability and oil wealth can be used to create oversized state apparatus/ financing secret apparatus that would repress any formation of civil society demanding a transition to democracy
- oil exporting rentier states have the opportunity to not tax the people/ impose only the minimum taxes and therefore do not require the consent of the people to be legitimate
- measurement of a strong vs weak state is often subject to a states ability to raise tax collections which requires widespread compliance by the people
- Saudi Arabia Case Study
- oil was discovered in 1938 couldn't be ignored by Britain and the US
- with Saudi Arabia not being able to escape the global economic crisis aid coming from Britain and the US allowed them to ride out the financial crisis
- aid came from Britain in the form of $37 million and from the Saudi view american influence would allow them to improve their security and territorial integrity
- faced the external threat of military attack and the internal threat of lack of obedience or violent opposition
- aid came from Britain in the form of $37 million and from the Saudi view american influence would allow them to improve their security and territorial integrity
- with Saudi Arabia not being able to escape the global economic crisis aid coming from Britain and the US allowed them to ride out the financial crisis
- during the oil era Saudi were able to gain strength in internal security but also acquired significant influence and power in international politics due to the worldwide demand for oil
- oil revenues allowed increased spending on defence and security imperatives and access to modern day arms
- under the rule of Crown Prince Fahd the Saudi government expanded rapidly rolling out public services at record rate
- heavily subsidised public utilities, state employment, and free education and healthcare
- no coincidence that the paternal distributional state faced few oppositional stirrings that all but ceased to exist by 1970's with the omnipresent state using its resources to buy off any potential opponents
- under the rule of Crown Prince Fahd the Saudi government expanded rapidly rolling out public services at record rate
- UK arms relationship is vital to their economy creating a mutually beneficial relationship based on demand for oil and Saudi Arabia being in a highly militarised area of the world
- Saudi Arabia has the power to use oil as an economic weapon against Israel and its Western allies reducing exports and increasing prices as a display of soft power
- oil revenues allowed increased spending on defence and security imperatives and access to modern day arms
- organised politics remains largely absent in the country with the country's political economy remaining the same in 2009 as it was in 1979 with neither business not government having much to complain about
- oil was discovered in 1938 couldn't be ignored by Britain and the US
- Kuwait Case Study
- before oil Kuwait was dominated between the ruler or Shaikh and the trading families
- in the 1920's Saudi Arabia had placed embargoes on Kuwait to annex as much of its territory as possible and limit their gains from revenues
- Kuwait, like Saudi, couldn't escape the impact of the Great Depression which caused their pearling industry to collapse - before oil international trade was one of their main sources of income
- oil was discovered in 1938 before Kuwait had become an independent country and Kuwait wasn't able to start its petroleum industry and sell abroad until 1946
- Kuwait, like Saudi, couldn't escape the impact of the Great Depression which caused their pearling industry to collapse - before oil international trade was one of their main sources of income
- in the 1920's Saudi Arabia had placed embargoes on Kuwait to annex as much of its territory as possible and limit their gains from revenues
- Kuwait weren't fully classed as being part of the Ottoman Empire but they still recognised Ottoman authority and were willing to help Ottoman forces
- Kuwait were a British protectorate since 1899 and were officially recognised in 1902 and under British authority Kuwait was transformed into a capitalist system of production
- Britain heavily monopolised trade within the gulf whilst keeping Kuwait under-developed as to not have to worry about Kuwait questioning the authority of Britain
- by the interwar period Kuwait began questioning their independence as economically they were independent in the gulf but politically they were not
- by 1933 due to fears that Kuwait were secretly negotiating with Saudi Arabia, Britain asserted their right to control Kuwait foreign policy by the 1899 agreement
- by the interwar period Kuwait began questioning their independence as economically they were independent in the gulf but politically they were not
- Britain heavily monopolised trade within the gulf whilst keeping Kuwait under-developed as to not have to worry about Kuwait questioning the authority of Britain
- the boarders between Kuwait and Iraq largely remained un-distinguished but in 1932 at Iraqi independence they agreed to re-establish the boundaries
- after Kuwait announced their independence in 1961 Iraq claimed that as the successor of the Ottoman Empire and Kuwait were a former participant that Kuwait were under the authority of Iraq
- Iraq believed they had the authority to determine the boarders and consequently who would control the oil
- Iraq complained to OPEC that Kuwait were stealing oil from a field near the boarder
- in 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait with Kuwait not being prepared for such leading the US to intervene placing a worldwide embargo on Kuwait and Iraq and further intervening with troops in what became the Gulf War
- Iraqi forces carried out a scorched earth policy destroying oil fields/wells exploding an estimated 730 wells by the end of the Gulf War and killed around 1000 Kuwaiti citizens
- still today Kuwait have one of the world's largest known oil reserves and now operates on a partial democracy with one of the highest Human Development Index's of the Middle East
- Iraqi forces carried out a scorched earth policy destroying oil fields/wells exploding an estimated 730 wells by the end of the Gulf War and killed around 1000 Kuwaiti citizens
- in 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait with Kuwait not being prepared for such leading the US to intervene placing a worldwide embargo on Kuwait and Iraq and further intervening with troops in what became the Gulf War
- Iraq complained to OPEC that Kuwait were stealing oil from a field near the boarder
- after the Iran/Iraq war, Kuwait refused to forgive Iraq's billion dollar war debt and with oil production reaching 40% an economic rivalry ensued between the two countries
- Iraq complained to OPEC that Kuwait were stealing oil from a field near the boarder
- in 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait with Kuwait not being prepared for such leading the US to intervene placing a worldwide embargo on Kuwait and Iraq and further intervening with troops in what became the Gulf War
- Iraqi forces carried out a scorched earth policy destroying oil fields/wells exploding an estimated 730 wells by the end of the Gulf War and killed around 1000 Kuwaiti citizens
- still today Kuwait have one of the world's largest known oil reserves and now operates on a partial democracy with one of the highest Human Development Index's of the Middle East
- Iraqi forces carried out a scorched earth policy destroying oil fields/wells exploding an estimated 730 wells by the end of the Gulf War and killed around 1000 Kuwaiti citizens
- in 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait with Kuwait not being prepared for such leading the US to intervene placing a worldwide embargo on Kuwait and Iraq and further intervening with troops in what became the Gulf War
- Iraq complained to OPEC that Kuwait were stealing oil from a field near the boarder
- Iraq believed they had the authority to determine the boarders and consequently who would control the oil
- after Kuwait announced their independence in 1961 Iraq claimed that as the successor of the Ottoman Empire and Kuwait were a former participant that Kuwait were under the authority of Iraq
- Kuwait were a British protectorate since 1899 and were officially recognised in 1902 and under British authority Kuwait was transformed into a capitalist system of production
- before oil Kuwait was dominated between the ruler or Shaikh and the trading families
- Intro
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