Description

The turmoil and strife of the Middle East raises serious questions about the security of the world's oil supply. Oil, Turmoil, and Islam in the Middle East is a hard-hitting indictment of OPEC and OAPEC, arguing that these organizations can no longer afford to impose indiscriminate price increases on the marketplace because they hurt not only themselves but oil poor Third World nations, as well. The author analyzes the importance of Middle Eastern oil in world politics. He emphasizes that any consideration of the forces influencing development in the Middle East should take Islamic tradition into account. Each chapter is organized around a current Middle Eastern problem: oil politics in relation to international energy needs; the ramifications of the new oil wealth and power of the Middle East; the Iran-Iraq War; Muslim insurgency in Afghanistan; the Arab-Israeli conflict; turmoil in Lebanon; Palestinian nationalism; and the Middle East as a superpower.