Global Oil And Terror Equation

IIPM PUBLICATION

The last time around it happened, the war lasted more than a few hundred years. This time, it's just about 15 years old. Strategic analysts and policy makers in the West are loath to use that term; yet for the man in the street in the Arab world, the alliance led by George Bush Jr. is waging Act Two of crusades against Islam. More than a decade ago, well known author and ‘thinker’ Samuel P. Huntington had already provided a hypothesis about the forthcoming ‘clash of civilisations’ between Islam and the West. More than 400 years ago, the French mystic Nostradamus had foretold of a third World War starting in West Asia. For conspiracy buffs, all this is a great opportunity to while away hours with friends.

Serious analysts don’t really take this seriously. Yet, even they appear worried by the growing cleavage between political and radical Islam and the West. A day after the London blasts, columnist and author Tariq Ali commented that these terrorist attacks are the symbol of Muslim youth’s impotent anger against the West. Echoing something similar, columnist Thomas Freidman said that it would be folly for the policy makers to demonise and alienate Muslims. For example, can France wish away the more than 5 million Muslims living in their country?

For that matter, can the US leave West Asia alone – to prosper or destroy each other, as the citizens and governments there decide? It simply can’t, because of oil and gas. In an interesting analysis, columnist Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek had linked the lingering and traumatic presence of American troops in Iraq to the obsession of Americans to drive gas guzzling monsters called SUVs. The result: Since Americans do not want to give up on their lifestyle, they have to continue Act Two of the crusade. At least till the world finds a credible alternative to oil as a source of energy.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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