THE GULF'S BLACK
TREASURE The new
colonialism By Hossein Askari
This is the 18th article in a
special series on oil and the Persian Gulf. For
previous articles, please see the foot of the
page.
During the colonial era, the
great powers used their military might to conquer
far-away lands, establish colonies with
fortifications, move their nationals into
administrative positions, rule with an iron fist,
tax these conquered lands and back their
companies, such as the British East India Company
and the Dutch East India Company, to exploit their
riches and fortunes.
It was a horrific era
encompassing massacres, murder, human deprivation
and incarcerations, enslavement, rape, pillage and
theft. It was not a pretty picture, and the people
of these lands
paid
a heavy price with adverse legacies that continue
today.
We have seen in previous
articles in this series how the oil-exporting
countries of the Persian Gulf were robbed of their
oil birthright, with foreign oil companies even
paying a higher tax (let alone their much more
substantial profits destined for their
shareholders) to foreign governments than to the
countries where the oil came from.
While the world has rightly
condemned the inhumanities of the past, it has
failed to recognize that colonialism has morphed
into a new form and exploits developing countries
and subjugates their peoples, especially those
with valuable resources such as oil, natural gas
and diamonds, even today.
The
explanation of how this came about in the Persian
Gulf and the greater Middle East is quite
straightforward. Tribal chiefs conquered
surrounding tribes and claimed dominion (Saudi
Arabia), the British colonialists installed or
supported families as de facto rulers (Iraq,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the Emirates), and foreigners
imposed rulers through coups (Iran). These rulers
in every single Persian Gulf country who had, or
have, little or no legitimacy (by Western or
Islamic standards) have wanted, and want, to hold
on the reins of power to enrich themselves and
live a life of ostentatious luxury (a way of life
that is absolutely prohibited in Islam).
To
hold on to power with direct access to vast oil
and natural gas revenues, these people have been
willing to do whatever was needed to be absolute
rulers. They have generally seen foreign support
as the necessary, and in most cases sufficient,
factor to stay in power. The most prized foreign
support in recent years has been that of the
United States, followed by Britain and France, and
during the Cold War Soviet backing was also
valued.
How have these rulers
garnered US (as well as British and French)
support? There are a number of well-publicized
channels. In the more distant past, it was through
lucrative oil exploration contracts that were
based on product sharing arrangements. This
practice enriched foreign oil companies and their
stockholders.
After oil revenues shot up in
the 1970s, lucrative engineering and construction
contracts for projects such as airports, ports,
power plants, petrochemical plants, oil refineries
and desalination plants became an important source
of buying foreign support. In fact, all major
government procurement contracts, for imports
ranging from commercial aircraft to food imports,
have foreign support as a major objective.
Perhaps the procurement of
foreign military equipment and military systems
(such as air defense) has received the most
attention because of its size, corruption and
waste. These procurement contracts routinely run
into the billions of dollars and are times even in
excess of US$50 billion. They always benefit a
local agent connected to the rulers in these
countries; these commissions sometimes run into
the billions of dollars; and foreign corporations
provide these corrupt payments in many ways to
avoid detection, including in the form of local
service contracts. These countries have little
need for such sophisticated military hardware and
in such quantities.
These purchases, military and
non-military, are important to corporations in the
United States and Europe; they are touted to
provide thousands of jobs and improve the balance
of payments of the countries; and in the case of
military purchases, they reduce the unit cost of
similar equipment bought by the US, UK and French
military, provide pre-positioned equipment for
foreigners to use, and provide cover for a limited
foreign military presence. And yes, incidentally,
some of the equipment is useful in controlling
citizens.
These major oil exporters,
with the exception of Iran and Iraq, have vast
financial reserves and sovereign wealth funds.
These assets and investments afford these
countries major sway in international financial
and capital markets and the ability to support
financial institutions and countries in need of
capital and liquidity.
But
how does this buy support for Middle Eastern
dictators? To begin with, these large corporations
and financial institutions are based in a number
of US states, states that have senators and
congressmen and governors, and politicians need
votes. These corporations and financial
institutions are major donors to presidential,
congressional and state political campaigns and to
the two major parties in the United States, and
they employ an army of lobbyists in Washington.
Their requests and voices matter in the halls of
power!
There are two channels of
influence peddling at the highest levels of
government that are invariably forgotten or
downplayed. These companies and financial
institutions retain and employ "retired"
presidents, cabinet members, senators,
congressmen, governors, ambassadors, other senior
officials and politicians and the military to do
their bidding in Washington. The trickle-down
effect is vast.
The countries also make
significant donations to the pet projects,
universities and other charities of these retired
senior officials who are in a position to move
their governments to come to the aid of their
favorite dictators.
How do all of these
constitute a modern face for colonialism? During
the 18th, 19th and the better half of the 20th
centuries, the great powers conquered, subjugated
and exploited countries for their economic gains.
They administered many of these lands and even put
puppet rulers in place. The ordinary citizens who
were robbed of their freedom, dignity and economic
prosperity hated them.
Today, foreign powers have no
need to conquer and administer these faraway
lands; they have instead traded support of
dictatorial regimes for economic and financial
gain. More specifically, their governments support
unpopular dictators who enrich themselves and
their cronies, while in the West the elite
corporations and former senior officials reap
economic rewards of their own.
Much
of what has followed today is as before. Dictators
rule. Freely elected governments are not to be
found. The citizenry are robbed of their political
freedom. They are robbed of their economic
birthright. They are robbed of efficient,
accountable and independent institutions and the
sustained economic growth and prosperity that
could be ushered in.
The major difference from the
past (or what we have labeled as the old colonial
era) is that, today, foreigners are not the
conquerors; instead it is citizens' own leaders
who subjugate and rob them with the support of
foreigners - their leaders and foreigners have
joined forces.
Today, as before, average
citizens resent (before they were more likely to
have hated) the foreigners who support their
corrupt rulers but they also hate their rulers.
They rebel, as they have in Tunisia, Libya and
Egypt. It is when the tyrants are overthrown, and
only then, that foreigners seem to recognize and
acknowledge the corruption, underdevelopment and
the tyrannical rule of the men that they supported
as legitimate leaders of their people.
But
the pursuit of corporate rewards and personal
wealth has had political repercussions in the
West. Subjugated and deprived Middle Easterners
have had very limited recourse to peaceful
protest. Independent political parties have been
banned. Demonstrations outlawed. Their only
shelter has been religion. A significant number of
the disenfranchised have collected under the
Islamic umbrella as even the all-powerful
dictators realize that they cannot attack Islam.
But these rulers have in turn
labeled the opposition as Islamic fundamentalists
and terrorists with the West as their target. This
simplistic representation has been bought hook
line and sinker by average Europeans and
especially by average Americans. While it is
undoubtedly the case that a small minority is
using religion to take the reins of power, the
majority of those in opposition are devout Muslims
who recognize that tyranny and hate are
antithetical to Islam.
They
do not want the mullahs of Iran or the Salafists
of Saudi Arabia. They want their freedom, the
freedom to choose their leaders and to shape their
futures. Unfortunately, the new face of
colonialism and its political fallout, namely, the
labeling of all protests as Islamic terrorism, is
well on its way to become a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
One thing is for sure. All
these tyrants will be overthrown. The questions
are when and at what price to the peoples of the
region and the West?
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