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George W. Bush Energy Diplomacy
Oil Price After the 2001 Crisis
Oil is of crucial importance owing to its impacts on regional power balance and on
outside attitudes. As the years between 2004 and 2014 witnessed a significant rise
in oil prices, the stimulus for reform in the rentier states diminished. However, the
importance attached to fortifying the role of the private sector did not undergo
significant changes. What continued to be of serious concern on the political agenda
were national people’s employment and reform in education, and there was a sharp
alarm for extreme dependence on the expatriate workforce, which is another aspect
of the issue (Fawcett 2016:125).
In the world political economy, one of the most important aspects of energy
security is the stability of oil prices. Effective factors such as OPEC and non-OPEC
members’ production capacity and consumption levels are affected by oil prices. Oil
price changes during the rise and abrupt drop in prices or oil price shocks affect
each of the players in the global oil market, including producers, consumption international oil companies. But despite the numerous factors and actors that affect oil
prices, the role of the US in terms of supply and consumption markets, oil reserves,
and especially the developments in the dollar exchange rate, is among the most
important factors affecting the price changes of oil as non-oil agents especially after
2001 (Pour Ahmadi and Sadoughi 2010:148).
At the local level, the high price of the oil cycle disrupted stability, which resulted
in serious negativities that will not be overcome very easily. The future of Iraq and
Libya, two important exporters of oil, gradually became failures, which ultimately
causes significant outcomes in the international context and does not object to external interference by different sides. However, the external intervention, which has
already been attempted, has not produced favorable outcomes.
Similarly, the financial aid provided to the new Egyptian al-Sisi regime by the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) financial support is also a sign of deja vu. Perhaps
retrying something that had ended with failure previously will YIELD positive outcomes, yet assuming a doubtful outlook is confirmed. Persistent political upheavals
and civil wars in various countries of the region and the inability to establish a positive vigor in Egypt would lead to its further isolation from the remaining parts of the
region and repress controversies in the country. Meanwhile, when Egypt has a stable and prosperous economy, it would very soon become dominant in the region
again, constraining the GCC countries to paymasters of its regional desires. That is
to say, the unrest between countries in the region that are rich in oil and those that
are poor in oil is inevitable. The command of the Arab local identity is also unavoidable (Fawcett 2016:126–127).
4 George W. Bush Energy Diplomacy
George W. Bush Energy Diplomacy
Oil Price After the 2001 Crisis
Oil is of crucial importance owing to its impacts on regional power balance and on
outside attitudes. As the years between 2004 and 2014 witnessed a significant rise
in oil prices, the stimulus for reform in the rentier states diminished. However, the
importance attached to fortifying the role of the private sector did not undergo
significant changes. What continued to be of serious concern on the political agenda
were national people’s employment and reform in education, and there was a sharp
alarm for extreme dependence on the expatriate workforce, which is another aspect
of the issue (Fawcett 2016:125).
In the world political economy, one of the most important aspects of energy
security is the stability of oil prices. Effective factors such as OPEC and non-OPEC
members’ production capacity and consumption levels are affected by oil prices. Oil
price changes during the rise and abrupt drop in prices or oil price shocks affect
each of the players in the global oil market, including producers, consumption international oil companies. But despite the numerous factors and actors that affect oil
prices, the role of the US in terms of supply and consumption markets, oil reserves,
and especially the developments in the dollar exchange rate, is among the most
important factors affecting the price changes of oil as non-oil agents especially after
2001 (Pour Ahmadi and Sadoughi 2010:148).
At the local level, the high price of the oil cycle disrupted stability, which resulted
in serious negativities that will not be overcome very easily. The future of Iraq and
Libya, two important exporters of oil, gradually became failures, which ultimately
causes significant outcomes in the international context and does not object to external interference by different sides. However, the external intervention, which has
already been attempted, has not produced favorable outcomes.
Similarly, the financial aid provided to the new Egyptian al-Sisi regime by the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) financial support is also a sign of deja vu. Perhaps
retrying something that had ended with failure previously will YIELD positive outcomes, yet assuming a doubtful outlook is confirmed. Persistent political upheavals
and civil wars in various countries of the region and the inability to establish a positive vigor in Egypt would lead to its further isolation from the remaining parts of the
region and repress controversies in the country. Meanwhile, when Egypt has a stable and prosperous economy, it would very soon become dominant in the region
again, constraining the GCC countries to paymasters of its regional desires. That is
to say, the unrest between countries in the region that are rich in oil and those that
are poor in oil is inevitable. The command of the Arab local identity is also unavoidable (Fawcett 2016:126–127).
4 George W. Bush Energy Diplomacy