Oil in the Middle East is a Curse More than a Blessing - Term Paper Example

Oil in Middle East is a Curse more than a Blessing Middle East is in possession of more than 66 percent of the global oil reserve and gains millions of dollars daily from exporting oil (Karl, 1997). For instance, the Iranian economy majorly depends on the wealth that is generated by oil. It should be noted that oil is the major source of economic development, technological development, as well as socio-cultural development. Moreover, Iran is number four among the global producers of oil, and, besides, it is a huge exporter of petroleum.

These two factors have made it to have huge cultural, geopolitical, as well as economic power. Although the industry does not own provide a very huge share of the nation’s national product, it is greatly contributes to the budget of the government, and besides, it is the factor behind the huge economic growth of Iran (Karl, 1997). The export of oil is the main source of direct revenue for the Middle East nations governments taking into account their lands are desert. Moreover, it also provides indirect revenue through the taxes that are levied on imports as well as several other activities that are financed by the money from oil and besides, foreign exchange be also earned.

All these are beneficial as they maintain other sectors within the economy of the Middle East countries (Karl, 1997). In addition, agriculture is also dependent on imports that are financed by oil; hence, Middle East nations’ food supply is alleged to rely on imports. However, food supply also depends on the annual rainfall as well as several other conditions. Despite the number of benefits brought about by oil, in Iran, for instance, the nationals of the country have lived to be haunted by its discovery.

Thus, the presence of oil reserves in the Middle East affects the states economically, politically, as well as socio-culturally but the sector, which is highly affected, is the nations’ political economy. Insecurity is also brought about by the presence of oil; similarly, oil has made Middle East to be vulnerable to interferences from the foreign nations, leading to the damage of the historical development of the nations in Middle East (Henry & Springborg, 2001). Monetary resources within the region have greatly been increased by the discovery of oil in the nation.

Because the region is endowed with numerous resources, the problem of allocating the fund also comes up. Foreign Super-powers always intervened in Middle East nations that have too much oil and tend to manipulate their governments. Moreover, international oil firms always aim exploit oil resources in Middle East, always striving to get extraordinary profits. In addition, the US has always invaded several states that produce oil within the Middle East like Iraq, unlike countries without oil have that never been invaded by the nation.

Hence, oil-producing nations within the Middle East have numerous political as well as economic problems, which are largely attributed to the properties of that are generated by revenues from oil (Transparency International, 2007). In conclusion, despite oil rich Middle East nations gaining numerous benefits from their oil, this blessing will ever remain to be a curse to them. Thus, the greatest curse of these nations has been the role that oil plays in incentivizing colonial intrusion as well as misuse of the oil-rich nations by external forces, since massive damage has been caused to the Middle East nations just because of being rich in oil.

References Henry, C.M. and Springborg, R. (2001). Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Karl, T.L. (1997). The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. Berkeley: University of California Press. Transparency International (2007). Global Corruption Report 2007.New York: Cambridge University, Press.