Dr. Ayari and Dr. Ewers provided unique insight into the issues in the middle east. From Dr. Ayari we learned that corruption and ineffective governments can seriously impact a countries economic future as illustrated in the article about Tunisia. As a result, a growing segment of the youth population has no way to serve their own societies. Restless tensions eventually led to the Arab Spring uprising that pulsed throughout the region. However, since many countries in the middle east are blessed with vast oil abundance it affords them the wealth to maintain control as they provide the world's backbone for energy supply. From Dr. Ewers we learned how the wealthy middle eastern countries ealize that change is the name of the game. He demonstrated how an economy reliant on a singular economic activity -oil- is a prone to dangerous swings in economic security which puts those at the head of government at risk. Therefore, these governments are rapidly
deploying their economic cash reserves to create industries in their countries independent of oil.
Thoughts?
Questions?
Links to good reads?
post it in the comments
Last Summer, I had the opportunity to explore Dubai for two days during a flight layover. This was my first experience in the Middle East and it wasn't until I stood on top of the Burj Khalifa that it hit me exactly the kind of prosperity that Oil brought.
ReplyDeleteDubai is a technologically cutting-edge city built along the coast of a barren desert. Under great leadership, they have leveraged their abundant supply of black gold to build up other industries such as manufacturing and tourism.
On a side-note, I think it's important to reflect upon the importance of leadership when faced with abundant oil supplies. Anyone aware of the level of corruption in Nigeria also must be familiar with the "Oil Curse".
Article: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9686.html