Implications of Partisanship in the Congress - Essay Example

The UAEs Perception of the Strategic Importance of the Strait of Hormuz The underlying importance of the Strait of Hormuz can never be undervalued. Statistics exposes that over 20% of the global petroleum pass through the waterway into various destinations, especially, the western countries (Knapp 4). However, the most outstanding barrier that influences the use, security and politics surrounding Strait of Hormuz is the Iranian threat. Precisely, Iran is posing numerous security challenges that hinder the effective use of this route.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reacted through various tactics and strategies. The UAE perceives the Strait of Hormuz as the most viable route and an indispensable waterway for transporting its petroleum products to the western nations. Subsequently, the UAE is constantly trying to improve the smooth usage of the Strait of Hormuz, while simultaneously implementing other strategies of seeking alternative routes. Arguably, the UAE has acknowledged the difficulty of contributing towards the attainment of security, and the fair use of the Strait of Hormuz without getting into conflict with its neighbors, especially, Iran.

First, it is worth highlighting that from the available literature presents the UAE as a politically allied to Iran in one way or another (Mills 2). The UAE is amongst the first countries in the region to complement and comment on various Iranian political activities, such as the election of their new presidents. Despondently, Iran is both economically and politically influential, and too potentially dangerous to disregard. The UAE has been participating in dialogue with Iran and supporting the US’ measures for countering the Iranian aggression.

Lately, the UAE have been asking its self whether it needs the Strait of Hormuz or not. In response to the question, construction of the Fujairah Pipeline was instigated, by the leading oil producer in the UAE, Abu Dhabi. The pipeline would make the entire UAE heavily independent of the Strait of Hormuz; hence, over $3.3 billion have been spent on this project (Mills 3). Precisely, the Fujairah Pipeline would bypass the Hormuz by delivering UAE’s Petroleum exports straight into the Indian Ocean.

The other pipeline that can help the UAE to evade the Hormuz is the Saudi Pipeline mainly referred to as the Petroline (Knapp 5). Unlike the Fujairah Pipeline that is not yet fully functional, the Petroline has been in use since 1981, and it runs to the port of Yanbu that is along the Red Sea. Still in response to the question whether the UAE needs the Hormuz or not, a very influential revelation is exposed by the capacities of the pipelines. The Fujairah Pipeline can only carry a mere 10% of UAEs petroleum exports (Mills 3).

On the other hand, the second pipeline, the Petroline, is also not very viable for avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. Researchers demonstrated that the Petroline needs a very significant upgrade to improve its capacity to about 11 million barrels transported per day (Mills 4). The upgrade would permit Saudi Arabia to carry all its oil exports and have a substantial spare capacity to be used by other UAE countries. The existing permanent solution that the UAE has been contemplating is implementing new pipeline (the Fujairah) and upgrading existing (the Petroline).

Nonetheless, the implementation of these permanent solutions would take years to implement. To worsen the situation, the Petroline would transport oil to the West passes Iraq through Turkey or Syria and yet Iraq is being closely tied to Iran (Mills). In conclusion, the two pipelines might improve the hope for UAE to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. However, in the imminent future, the world and UAE heavily rely on the Hormuz for its petroleum and oil products. Currently, the UAE perceives the Hormuz indispensable waterway; hence, it participates in all interventions that might make the Hormuz safe and usable.

It collaborates in all Iranian peace talks (the Gulf Security Dialogue); it is enriching its nuclear power, has opened its embassy in Bagdad and is contributing to the functioning of the Persian Gulf defense (Mills 5). Works Cited Knapp, Patrick. "The Gulf States in the Shadow of Iran." Middle East Quarterly (2010). Mills, Hamed. "Do We Even Need the Strait of Hormuz?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.