THE APU TIMES

The Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America are being abused by major industries for access to resources. However, the focus of this article is on the Middle East. Here, people have endured several conflicts because of its strategic geography. The discovery of oil in the Middle East enhanced the importance of this area. In the following lines I will analyze the problem from an economic and historical perspective. The story starts when an Arab leader (Husain bin Ali of Hijaz), who wanted to establish a kingdom of his own, betrayed the Othman Empire (Khilafa) in 1915 during the First World War (The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence). As a result, Britain and France took over the Middle East and promised “Palestine national home for the Jewish people…” Belfour Declaration 1917. Arabs went to war with Israel over the land, but could not defeat Israel and its strong ally the United States. The last attempt was in 1973, the year that is famous for the Energy Crisis, when Arab oil exporting countries started an embargo to force the United States to stop aiding Israel in the war. The whole world came to realize how dependent the economy is on oil. As a result, actions were taken in the Middle East to guarantee a continuous and stable supply of oil. Governments were neutralized to achieve that, at the expense of the people of these countries. Corrupt politicians in the Middle East joined forces with oil companies to steal resources. To achieve that they made sure that people are kept silent using brutality and policing. The politicians are a great asset for oil companies as they guarantee supplies and consistent prices. Therefore, they are supported no matter how crooked they are. In these countries people rot in jail or are killed for speaking out, but the media looks the other way because it is bad for business. Governments in the Middle East are causing twisted ideologies in the minds of their citizens with their thirst for money and power. Terrorism is not justified and will never be. Nevertheless we need to understand the true cause in order to fight it effectively.

How is all this related to us, and how can we participate in the solution to this problem? We are empowering these actions by our increasing consumption. The more we consume, the more suffering we bring on the people in the developing world. Because when we demand more oil, people in the oil producing countries have to work more for less to keep up with our demands. We need to change our ever-growing consuming behavior towards more sustainable life for mankind on earth. If we fail to do so, we will spur more violence around the world and we will eventually drive the human race to a new war for survival over the few remaining resources.