The Importance of the Embargo in the Arabic Countries Research Paper

The Importance of the Embargo in the Arabic Countries - Research Paper Example During the embargo, the countries mainly Arabic countries made the unilateral decision to hike the prices and cause a disruption in the world oil prices. The price per barrel at the period between 1960 and 1971 was at $1.75. By mid-1973, the price had risen to $3.29 a barrel, and this was after negotiations. After the conflict had begun, the OPEC members raised the price to $5.12 a barrel. Iran auctioned its oil to the highest bidder at $17 a barrel. By the early months of 1974, the price was at $ 11.25. Since then, the prices remained on a steady rise. The Arabic countries who were the majority in the OPEC wanted to make the US bow down and cease supporting Israel. This also led to more conflicts and the US knew it was at a very bad position. The US was at a decline in its oil production, worsening the situation at hand. The process of dealing with the shortage also led to supplies that are more limited, and the price increase was beyond what the US could have done to limit it. Anot her problem was America’s unilateral decision of removing itself from the Bretton Woods Accord where the gold exchange standard was the main method of exchange. The price of gold was pegged on the value of the dollar and the fact that the US was removing itself from this accord was making it difficult to satisfy the market demands. The problem was that they had to make better choices and the depreciating value of the prices was not ideal for society. Ideally, the growing nature of the disgruntled attributes was making things worse and the countries were being fed up by the inability to make independent decisions without having to liaise with the US.

To what extent can global geopolitics in the period since 1989 be Essay

To what extent can global geopolitics in the period since 1989 be described as a 'clash of civilisations' - Essay Example Between the 1940s and 1989, global citizens were held hostage to recurring conflict between the world’s two largest superpowers which never reached a full militaristic situation as a result of both superpower’s capability to impose mass destruction against the other (Gaddis 56). However, since 1989, many states have developed more technological capacity and economic strength, making powers other than the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc more influential in geopolitics. Since 1989, more geopolitical power spread throughout emerging militaristic and economically-sound states has changed the dynamics of political relationships throughout the world. This essay explores the Gulf War, theory regarding global capitalism and U.S. unipolarity to describe how geopolitics, today, has led to a clash of civilisations. Between 1980 and 1988, Iraq had been engaged in a lengthy war against Iran, sparked by unsettled border disputes between the two nations. Iraq, a once-wealthy and prosperous nation, was witnessing its economic strength diminishing as a result of continuously funding a costly military effort against its rival. During this war, Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, began to fear that if Iran won this conflict, it would create an Iran hegemony that would ultimately threaten national security of Saudi Arabia and its oil-related revenues. Saudi Arabia had loans $26 billion USD to Iraq as a dual effort to ensure that the Shia in Iran would not gain substantial political power. Kuwait, another oil rich nation, had also loaned Iraq $14 billion USD to assist Iraq in its military objectives against Iran. By 1990, Kuwait refused to simply forgive this $14 billion dollar loan even though Iraq was convinced that the eight year-long war had achieved an oppression of Iran’s growing strength (Watson, George, Tsouras and Cyr 61). The Saudis, additionally, placed considerable pressure on Iraq to begin loan