Role of Natural Resources in the Politics and Economy of the Middle East Essay Example for Free

Role of Natural Resources in the Politics and Economy of the Middle East Essay For the last 60 years oil has been of major importance for the economies of the Middle East. The region has about one-half of the world’s oil reserves and approximately one-quarter of global supplies of natural gas. Middle East oil has been an intermittent preoccupation for western governments and business, particularly throughout the dramatic 1973-4 and 1979 oil price rises, as these had a most important impact on the world economy. Within the region itself, oil production has accounted for a considerable proportion of national product and been the main source of government finance. The earnings produced from oil have not merely contributed to development funding in the oil-exporting states however have as well flowed into the non-oil economies through inter-government assistance, remittances and, to a lesser extent, private investment flows. (Marc J OReilly, 1999). Oil and gas exports are likely to stay vital for the economies of the Middle East for the predictable future, regardless of the price reductions since the mid-1980s. The price of oil has had a major impact on past development trends, as well as the region’s economic prospects cannot be assessed without some predictions of future price changes. The determinants of oil prices are as a result of very important interest as far as Middle East development is concerned. NATURAL RESOURCES The Middle East holds considerable quantities of natural wealth in forms other than oil reserves—for instance, the phosphate deposits of the Maghreb, which contain nearly half of the worlds known reserves of that mineral. In the area at large, extensive mineral surveying has taken place in the past decade, as firms and governments have searched for new sources of prosperity and for the means to greater economic diversification. Despite these efforts, petroleum remains of such overwhelming economic and geopolitical importance that other mineral resources are relatively insignificant. The development of the Middle Eastern oil industry began in 1901 with the granting of a concession by the Persian government to William Knox DArcy, a British engineer. In exchange for the rights to search for and exploit petroleum resources in Persia, excluding the northern provinces where Russian influence was strong, the terms of the concession required the operating company or companies to pay the Persian government ? 20, 000 in cash and ? 20, 000 in stock. In addition, the Persian government was to receive 16 percent of annual net profits, plus a small annual payment of about ? 4,000. (R. K. Ramazani, 1998). The British government took an interest in the search for oil from the beginning. At that time, it was determined to convert the Royal Navy from coal to oil, but the British Empire lacked a secure and adequate source of petroleum. In 1907, Great Britain reached an agreement with Russia whereby the latter was awarded a zone of influence in northern Persia and Great Britain was recognized as the dominant foreign power in the south. A neutral zone was left in the center. The Admiralty arranged for financial support of DArcys search activities, and oil was struck in 1902. In 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was formed, and a refinery was built in the Gulf on the island of Abadan. In 1914, the British government moved to acquire 51 percent of the APOC stock (outstanding). These events established the precedents of petroleum exploitation through concessions granted by host countries to foreign enterprise, equity participation and profit sharing by host countries, and the participation by the concessionaires home government in Middle Eastern enterprise. (Sheikh R. Ali, 1986). During the interwar years, oil operations spread around the northern end of the Gulf into Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. In this period, the industry was controlled by the major international companies, often referred to as the â€Å"seven sisters. † By 1976, more than 104 billion barrels of crude oil had been lifted in the area since the inception of the modern industry. The enormity of Middle Eastern reserves can be gauged from the estimation that more than three times this amount remained to be lifted. At the 1976 annual rate of production of 9 billion barrels, the Middle Eastern proved reserves/output ratio shows that production could last another 39 years. (Sheikh R. Ali, 1986). Although it is a commonly used indication of production potential, the proved reserves/output ratio is not an accurate indicator of how long oil production actually will continue. For one thing, prospective or probable reserves are not included in the numerator, and new additions will continue to be made in the proved reserves category for years to come. Furthermore, variations in worldwide economic activity cause shifts in demand and current output. A short-term decline in output can cause a temporary rise in the reserves/ output ratio, as happened in 1975. Other things being the same, the assessment of reserve life made during a recession year could give a different impression from one made during a boom year. Finally, states sometimes revise their reported proved reserves because of research findings or for political reasons. Saudi Arabia, for example, abruptly cut its estimated reserves for January 1976 from 148. 6 billion barrels to 107. 8 billion barrels only to restore the estimate to 151. 4 billion barrels in 1977. This resulted in substantial variations in the reserves/output ratio for the whole Middle East. For these reasons, the reserves/production ratio should not be used in forecasting without suitable qualifications. Although the ultimate size of reserves and the duration of production in the Middle East are imponderables, there is greater certainty now about relative costs of production. The incremental unit cost of Middle Eastern crude, including finding, developing, and operating costs, are the lowest in the world. In the 1980s, per barrel necessary costs in 1972 dollars are expected to range from 15 to 20 on the Arabian Gulf. In contrast, North Sea oil is expected to cost $1. 50 to $2. 00 per barrel, and in the United States, medium-cost oil is forecast at $3. 30 to $6. 70 per barrel. Since per barrel prices for Gulf oil have risen to 60 to 80 times operating costs, economic profits at the lifting stage of the production process are exceptionally large for oil from this source. (Nora Bensahel, Daniel L. Byman, 2003). Oil reserves are providing the exporting countries with levels of income far in excess of those that otherwise would have been achieved. Petroleum resources thus are serving to compensate for deficiencies in agricultural resources and human skills. The relationship among resources, income growth, and economic development is complex, however, so that, in certain cases, growth based on the exploitation of natural resources can occur without commensurate economic development.

Digi Telecommunication Sdn Bhd

Digi Telecommunication Sdn Bhd DiGi Telecommunication Sdn. Bhd. is a company which contribute mobile communication. DiGi accomodate a absolute range of effortful, adaptable and easy to use wireless services to facilitate and enhance the lives of its customers. DiGi made value for their customer by choosing the most applicable cutting edge high tech so that customers gain the advantage from the products and services that provide them alternatives, advancement and authority. DiGi have a creation companionship as a lead in voice and data prepaid services that have determined industry benchmarks for inspiration and innovation. DiGi Postpaid bring out top quality call together with value-added mobile and data service to all customers. There are some competitors that DiGi faced with. One of the main competitor is Maxis Berhad. Maxis Berhad is the leading mobile communications service contributer in Malaysia over 11.4 million mobile subscribers. Maxis Berhad offered some services. Such as, prepaid, postpaid, 3G service and Maxis Broadband. While another competitor is Celcom Axiata Berhad, also known as Celcom, is the oldest telecommunication company in Malaysia. Celcom is now generally a world figure for mobile communication. They had extended the original frequency band for GSM from 900 MHz to 1800 MHz. Celcom provide Virtual Mobile Operator services(VMO) and rural communications services by using CDMA Technology and Satelite Phone. IT and IS used by DiGi Telecommunications 3G coverage 3G is the current wireless technology. DiGi Telecommunications has used 3G network that named as Turbo 3G which launched on December 2009. Besides, it also promoted 4G DiGià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Turbo 3G with a speed approximately 14.4Mbps HSPA. Several areas in Malaysia had coverage with Turbo 3G. Turbo 3G is available for the users of DiGi for the broadband, postpaid and prepaid use. It provide users to get the data and information by the wireless access from anytime and many place. Users can suft the internet with the higher speed and they are able to make the video call, listen to music or viewing movies with higher quality than before. E-payment E-payment is a e-commerce transaction which the buyers and sellers will deal by electronic payment for buying and selling purposes via internet. Digi Telecommunications has integrated with iPay88 and PayPal for e-payment options. MySimplified, DiGi classified portal were forced with iPay88 so that the online payment services are available for the mySimplifieds members to do the transaction through the internet. Debit and credit instruments were provided to the them via the local bank. Meanwhile, the Storefront launched to let the sellers to accept the payments from payers via online channel. CRM CRM data is the most crucial information in any company. In order to control the performance of the company, DiGi Telecommunications decided to associate with iZeno and SugarCRM to conduct Sugar Professional On-Site. SugarCRM is a provider of commercial open source customer relationship management, so-called CRM software. It increase ability in achieving deeper analysis of CRM data and combine it with other companies data. SugarCRM applications have been choose by more than 5000 customers under lock-in based and proprietary alternatives. This software help DiGi Telecommunications Company in leads identification and tracking, proposal generation, account validation, approval matrix, contract generation, order fulfillment tracking, billing system integration and reporting. Recommendation Digi Telecommunication Malaysia provides a variety of mobile communication services, but we suggest that the company can launch 4G WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) in the future. WiMAX is developed to provide a common framework for wireless connectivity in fixed, portable, and mobile environments. It is also act as a scalable wireless access technology designed to provide high throughput over long distances. As we know, there are many types of internet connectivity today like broadband wireline, WiFi, and even dial-up. But all these types of connectivity have some disadvantages, for broadband the service can be expensive which is depended on the provider, and it is sometimes unavailable in many rural areas. For WiFi, it has limited range against coverage, and for dial-up, it is simply slow. WiMAX is designed to overcome all these problems. It provides the high-speed connection of broadband even with higher data transfer rates. Besides that, it also offers wireless access which has the range far exceeds WiFi. This is because WiMAX consist of two hardware components that is a WiMAX tower and WiMAX receiver. This WiMAX tower provides coverage to an estimate 30 mile radius by connecting to internet using a high-bandwidth wire line connection. In addition, we also recommend that the Digi Company to produce Digi-m-Trak mobile asset. This asset will provide reliable, cost- effective monitoring and management. The Digi-m-Trak system ensures constant to access information at any time and from any place. Digi-m-Trak transceiver will collect data such as location, speed, fuel levels, temperature and vehicle security system status for vehicle GPS. The information will saved in the secure database sent from the transceiver over a GSM and GPRS wireless network. From here, we know that Digi-m-Trak will give a lot of visibility to safety and security of divers, vehicles, and goods. From here, we know about the benefit of Digi-m-Trak mobile asset, so it is strongly recommended that Digi Company can launch this new mobile asset in order to gain competitive advantage in this global environment.

The Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

Some may say that the main character of J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, is merely the average teenager, although he seems to think about sex and women quite a lot for his age of sixteen. This point can be easily argued in many ways, one example being the time Holden called a perfect stranger, Faith Cavendish, to get together at an unruly time of night. Another example of the main character’s perversion is when he hired a prostitute named Sunny, and never actually accomplished anything. One last example could be Caulfield’s overall impression and cockiness when it comes to sex and women. In conclusion Holden Caulfield is engrossed in sexual thought. The protagonist’s fixation with members of the opposite sex can first be argued when he phone’s a girl who’s number he received from a guy he meet once at a party; he said that the girl was â€Å"not exactly a whore or anything but didn’t mind doing it once in a while†. After Holden had spent a good amount of time trying to persuade her to meet him, because he was â€Å"feeling pretty horny†, the girl, Faith Cavendish, finally got him to register the answer of no into his brain. At this point Faith asked the main character if he would like to meet for drinks the next day, but he declined, because the next day he may not be feeling horny anymore. Obviously, the main character was so determined to do something sexy that night he turned down a friendly invitation, which proves that Holden Caulfield is fascinated by sex and women. Over all because the protagonist called an unknown woman for sex, then refused her proposal for a get together the ne xt day; Holden is obviously fixated with both sex and women. Second, another example of Holden’s perversion is when he hires a prostitute named Sunny from the elevator man at his hotel. Although some may say that calling a stranger in the middle of the night, like Holden did with Faith, is normal, but hiring a prostitute when one is sixteen years old is far from average. After the prostitute, Sunny, arrived in Holden’s room and had stripped off her dress Holden lied to her saying that he had an injured â€Å"clavichord† so that he could back out of doing the deed, instead of admitting that he didn’t want to; this caused vexation from both Sunny and the elevator man (Sunny’s pimp), Maurice, and resulted in Holden getting beat up by Maurice because he didn’t pay the full price.

The Miranda Warning :: essays research papers

The Miranda Warning For the past decade, many Right Wing organizations have sort to change many of the laws, governing our rights and freedom. These laws were passed by congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. The Miranda Warning is one of these laws. The Miranda Warning is intended to protect the guilty as well as the innocent and should be protected at all costs. Without the law, many suspects may be treated unfairly. It is a necessary safeguard. Miranda is a ruling which says that the accused have the right to remain silent and prosecutors may not use statements made by them while in police custody, unless the police advice them of their rights. In other words, a police officer must inform a suspect of this fundamental right, under the Fifth Amendment, at the time of their arrest and or interrogation. Miranda protect ignorant suspects from incriminating themselves. Miranda also protects suspects from overzealous police officers. Although most law-enforcement agents in the United States are decent men and women, some abuse their power. They may try to coerce suspects into giving false confessions. Time and time again, we read of cases where suspects were forced to make confessions because an overzealous or prejudiced police officers want to close a case. The story of Rubin Hurricane Carter, made popular by the motion picture of the same name, demonstrated how lives could be destroyed when vindictive and manipulating detectives abuse their power. The Miranda Warning helps keep abuses in check. If the law is used correctly, the guilty would receive their due punishment. When police officers inform suspects of their rights before interrogation, it is very unlikely that the judge presiding over any case would throw out statements made during questioning. Many high ranking law enforcement agents around the country support the Miranda Warning rule because it is a necessary safeguard; it helps and does not hinders the judicial process. William J. Bratton former police commissioner for the New York City Police Department said, "Miranda works at a minimal social cost. The Supreme Court should reaffirm a decision that has served this country well." I believe that the Miranda warning protects all citizens, guilty and innocent, victim and perpetrator, from unscrupulous officers. The law was designed to insure that the statement given is voluntary and not extracted by force or coercion. Many courts including the Supreme Court have made thousands of decisions using the Miranda ruling without any indication that the law was unconstitutional or benefit criminals.

ICT Industry And Employment Essay

Understanding the impact of information technology will greatly affect one’s choice of career path. In this world of computers, electronic data and the internet, it is more practical to consider jobs and careers that go hand in hand with IT. There are solid evidences that the ICT industry will soon be the biggest player in any world economies. In the healthcare industry, every patient data is going paperless. With the introduction of EMR or Electronic Medical Records, hospitals, patients and health professionals can easily exchange data in order to assess the best possible way to provide patients with the necessary healthcare. Computers and the internet play important roles in EMR. Meanwhile, the finance and banking industry are also going electronic by implementing e-commerce strategies. Many of them are now providing electronic banking and investment facilities that clients can easily access. This innovation saves them thousands of dollars, which could have been used for labor, facility, or marketing funding needs. On the other hand, engineering companies are also joining the bandwagon. They have set up their respective IT departments in order to integrate computers to their manufacturing and service sectors. With the availability of reliable data, engineering companies can easily decide on implementing their plans or relaying information across all departments, which will result to better productivity. So what do these evidences say? Information and Communications Technology will soon become the very backbone of any economic sectors. In fact, any industries (software, electronics, hardware, internet) related to IT are considered some of the most robust in the global economy (Stanley Labs). If one wishes to get a bright future, then investing on learning the techniques in IT will be the right approach.

Obesity in Children Essay

What parents allow their children to eat can affect their bodies and their life. Most children don’t realize the effects of long term illnesses such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart condition and high blood pressure. Taxing unhealthful foods and beverages could prove an important strategy to overconsumption and potentially aid in weight loss and reduced rates of diabetes among children and adults. Junk food should be taxed because it will reduce obesity, type 2 diabetes, and health care costs. First of all, taxing junk food will lower obesity among Americans. The increase in both soda and pizza found that many Americans would still buy junk food regardless of a price increase. Taxing of sugary beverages at a penny-per-ounce rate with the goal of decreasing consumption of obesity caused in drinks. The junk food tax would fund obesity related health initiatives such as diabetes care. Obesity has been acknowledged as a national problem, notion of taxing junk food doesn’t seem so bad. Secondly, Americans need to take better control over what they eat and what they feed their children. We must take a stand against obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in children and young adults. Most fast foods contain process meats and considered unhealthy in children. Americans don’t have an ideal what they are eating in fast food restaurants. How the government determined what foods should be served in schools. A couple of school systems such as Texas and California had a great idea to remove soft drinks, pop, soda, energy drinks and cola from the schools lunch rooms along with fast foods such as burgers, French fries, hot ogs and convenience stores, too fight the obesity epidemic among the United States and children. Replace drinks with orange juice, and water. Replace fast foods with fresh fruits, vegetables, salads and exercise. Obesity in the United States has risen from 48 percent to 65 percent within the last thirty years and so has health care which has sky racket. We need to be more proactive in saving our children by eating healthier f oods in the home and school. Schools need to change the vending machines to reflect eating healthy will help the body to become healthier. The school environment, nutrition, organizational support groups, school policies that take away things such as sweetened beverages, and replace them with water, juice, fruit, vegetables and less junk food. Availability of less healthful food and beverages in schools is worldwide. Despite changes in improving school food environment, availability of high fat food such things as pizza and hamburgers remain high in United States schools. Canadian elementary schools seem to have fewer vending machines, but less healthful food and beverages are available to all grades as they are made available through outlets such as cafeteria, school stores. It is said that schools may influence students into eating unhealthy by the lunches they provide and the vending machines that are in schools. Lastly, fast foods are not good because they have no nutrition value, most children that consume fast foods on a daily basic start to gain weight due to lack of exercise. Children watch more TV and play more video games than exercising. Less exercise in schools, have also been a major factor contributing to obesity in children. Fast foods make children tired, the more you eat the less energy you have. When you walk into a store whether it’s a large grocery store or a small convenience store the lack of fruits and vegetables are small. Most children and adults are unaware that they have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Most children who suffer from obesity also have a high rate of asthma. It would be a good idea if governments would rate schools on lunches they are providing to students. The school should prohibit advertising of fast foods, sweets and pop, prohibit use of less healthful foods , provide advertising that deals with eating healthy and healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, seek educational requirements for school food and include requirements for nutrition education. Include exercise in the diet each day that way children won’t feel tried after eating lunch. They will burn off fast and their bodies will feel better and become better in the long run. We need our children to be healthy. We need to avoid sickness, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Americans need to limit the intake of fast foods and start looking at healthy choices for themselves and their children. Medical bills have sky racket. If we plan to keep our generation of children around we better start looking at better ways of eating and providing nutrient in our everyday diet. Most people have cars, less people walk, ride bikes, or exercise. We have become lazy when it comes to exercise and eating healthy. Look at your children and ask yourself, do I want my child to continue looking like this, obese, sick and unhealthy.

Website evaluation - Hebrew Poetry Research Paper

Website evaluation - Hebrew Poetry - Research Paper Example A. Authority/Source: The domain of the website is ".org", suggesting that the site belongs to an organization, most probably a non-profit organization. The "About" page (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/index.html) of the site clearly states its purpose, intended audience and author. According to the description, the site aims at providing information on Hebrew poems and poets to scholars, general readers, librarians, teachers and poetry lovers. However, it is further stated that the site is mainly aimed for general readers and poetry lovers only. The website also provides information about its creator and editor on the "About the Editor of This Site" page (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/abouttheauthor.html). The author's professional, publishing and teaching experiences are clearly stated (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/resume.html). It is apparent that the information on the site is authentic as its author and editor (Henry Rasof) has several publications to his credit. The site a lso acknowledges the contributors and publishers who granted permission for use of copyrighted information from journals, books, and other publications. The website also provides the author's email address, which can be used for verifying the site's credibility. The site was initially developed as a project for the author's MA degree; however, the author hopes to expand it further. The site also provides the address of the author for sending feedback ... Z. Idelsohn (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/idelsohnchapterfinal.html). Most other articles and poetry have been excerpted from similar publications. Most of the articles have appropriate footnotes and are backed by complete bibliographies for verification of factual information. The information provided thus seems credible. While excerpts of copyrighted information are accompanied with details of the original authors, the sites own articles are also accompanied with sufficient information on the author and his/her credentials. The site uses minimal graphical representations, which if shown, are appropriately labeled. However, their sources are not cited. For instance, a map of "Andalucia: Center of Islamic presence in Spain during the time of the medieval Jewish poets" shown on the site's home page (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/index.html) has an appropriate and detailed legend, but its source is not cited. C. Currency: Original articles by the author of the website do not state the date of creation. Therefore, it is difficult to determine when the article was actually written. For instance, the article "Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Metaphors of Imagination" (http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/abrahamibnezrabiointro.html), originally written by Henry Rasof, the site's author and editor, does not state when the article was created. Since the information is related to historical and literary aspects of Hebrew poetry, the date of creation does not necessarily matter. There is no indication that the site is constantly updated or edited. According to information provided by the site, its articles were last updated on 7th June, 2008, indicating that the site is outdated. The site provides links to external sources and websites. All the links are