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The Political Economy of Global Oil
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# : |
17162 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1990 |
3,188 Words |
| Author
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Cyrus Bina
Cyrus Bina teaches economics at Bryant College and is visiting
scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard
University. He is the author of The Economics of the Oil
Crisis (St. Martin's Press, 1985) and co-editor of Modern
Capitalism and Islamic Ideology in Iran (St. Martin's Press,
forthcoming.) |
Saddam Hussein has committed his second blunder in a decade. This time the Iraqi leader had three major objectives in mind when he invaded Kuwait and called for union of the "Kuwaiti branch" and the "Iraqi tree."
Fist, since his coming to power the Iraqi leader has sought to command the leadership of the Arab world, a vast and resourceful region plagued by economic despair, political and ideological division, and, above all, a deep sense of frustration. But he did not possess adequate understanding about the global polity or even regional politics in his own backyard. His outrageous invasion of neighbors, Arab and non-Arab alike, is cause for concern. Yet Saddam Hussein, in the minds of many Arabs, is a bold leader who promises to restore Arab dignity, to uplift the spirit of pan-Arabism, and to put an end to denigration of Arabs both regionally and internationally.
People in the Arab world have long wondered why the United States has been so disinclined to counter the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in the same fashion and with the same enthusiasm as it has countered the recent aggression by the Iraqi government.
So, despite the dangers imposed by Saddam's aggression, the Arab psyche is still deliberating on how to grapple with the present crisis.
Saddam, on the other hand, stands to benefit from these uncertainties - especially from the legacy of colonialism and neocolonialism - and from the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, reflected upon the Al-Sabah family or the shaky foundation of the House of Saud, whose protection
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