Economy and Sources of Energy
A coalition
between regional countries is predictable to accept euro in return for oil |
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“Euro and the
Oil Market: New Challenges to the Industry” was the title of a presentation by
Oystein Noreng from Norwegian School of Management. He referred to the role of money as a
unit of value, standard worth of contracts, means of payment and capital stock. Mr. Noreng
stated that euro possessed all these characteristics and could therefore act as rival to
the U.S. dollar. Terming the United States as the world’s central bank, he reminded
that the bills of the American companies were in dollars and as a result, there were no
monetary risks involved. But European companies have to pay dollars for all their raw
material purchases and this was not free of risks. Europe can highly benefit from paying
for its imports in euros, however, it is still too weak to be a means of payment for oil.
Some disadvantage of dollar are that the world market is saturated with it, about 15% to
20% of its value is artificial and it can be easily forged. Oystein Noreng predicted that
following the growth of the European economy,
the pricing unit will move from dollar to euro. He maintained that Iran and Iraq were both
politically unwilling to support dollar and had little investments in the U.S. Therefore,
a coalition is predictable to accept euro in return for oil. |
Oil and the Western World Economy
By the end of
the current decade, the Persian Gulf will be the only source of oil supply for industrial
countries |
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Dilip Hiro, a writer
from the United Kingdom, was another speaker of the conference. He pointed to the significance of the Persian Gulf in view
of the fact that oil reserves of the region were likely to last another 83 years while
such reserves will be depleted in 10 years in the Unites States, 9 years in Canada and 9
years in Norway. Based on a forecast by Mr. Hiro, world demands for oil would reach from
24 billion to 40 billion barrels per day. For instance, China’s oil imports grew 36
fold since 1983 to 1998. The United States used to import 31% of its required oil in the
period between 1982-1988. However, this figure of import grew to 56% by 1998. By the end
of the current decade, the Persian Gulf will be the only source of oil supply for
industrial countries. Cooperation and solidarity among the Persian Gulf countries is
therefore of great importance. |
Cultural-Political Realities and the Role of Elite
It has become
extremely easy to collect information; it is the information processing that bears the
greater significance |
John Alterman, a
senior researcher with the U.S. Institute for Peace was a speaker in this session with a
presentation titled “New Media and New Politics in the Middle East”. He
discussed the media and new policies of the Middle East and referred to globalization as a
product of information explosion and technological breakthrough. It has become extremely
easy to collect information but this is not enough by itself; it is the information
processing that bears the great significance.
As a result of technological achievements,
links can be established to connect an increasing number of people and this, in turn, can
promote understanding and friendship among nations of the region and the world. Satellites
and the Internet have made it impossible to censor information and what matters most today
is providing authentic and reliable news to achieve credit among the audience. This will
add to the responsibility of governments vis-à-vis nations. |
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Globalization and Future of the Persian Gulf
Globalization
and the worldwide web are instrumental in creating one new civilization out of several
civilizations |
Sometimes the world
undergoes such a deep change as if creation has just taken place. That is how Dr. Farhang
Rajai opened his statements to call for a new approach toward the modern ways of the
world. Globalization and the global network, he said, were instrumental in creating one
new civilization out of several civilizations. Advanced technology and computer would be
the main driving forces of this modern civilization.
Rules of the game are joint production in
economy, race rather than competition in politics, and pluralism rather than consistency
in culture. In the age of globalization all policies must inevitably become global and
state is no longer the only player. Dr. Rajai further stated that the Persian Gulf can
enjoy a strategic status once some $467 billion of the Middle East nations’ capital
would return to the region and concluded by calling for confidence-building and
cooperation among regional countries in all possible fields and refraining from impossible
arguments which only cause hostilities. |
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