Friday, September 15, 2006

It's the Oil, Stupid: U.S. policy for Jordan and Syria

Jordan

Jordan is a Constitutional Monarchy. Jordan also has few natural resources and a somewhat staggered economy whose tourism has turned south by the frequent violence in the region since 1991. Ever wonder why you seldom hear about it? As soon as the pipelines are constructed, you will hear much more.

Syria

Syria has its own political issues:

Politics of Syria takes place in a framework of a parliamentary republic, whereby the power is in the hands of the President of Syria and the ruling Ba'ath Party. Officially, Syria is a parliamentary republic. In reality, however, it is an authoritarian regime that exhibits only the forms of a democratic system. Although citizens ostensibly vote for the President and members of Parliament, they do not have the right to change their government. The late President Hafiz Al-Asad was confirmed by unopposed plebiscites five times. His son, Bashar Al-Asad, also was confirmed by an unopposed referendum in July 2000. The President and his senior aides, particularly those in the military and security services, ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life, with a very limited degree of public accountability. Political opposition to the President is not tolerated. Syria has been under a state of emergency since 1963. Syrian governments have justified the state of emergency by the state of war which continues to exist with Israel and by continuing threats posed by terrorist groups. The Syrian army and security services maintained a considerable presence in the neighboring Lebanese Republic from 1975 until April 24, 2005; for more detail on this, see Syrian presence in Lebanon.

I would like to take this chance to draw a comparison between the state of emergency in Syria and the terrorist threat levels in the U.S. (Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.) It is also worthwhile to point out the degree of hostility in this entry that is eerily absent in other nations of the Middle East. I would imagine it may have something to do with the recent conflict in Southern Lebanon as well as the festering hostility of the U.S. policy.

As for the economy, this selection is relevant:

Syria has produced heavy-grade oil from fields located in the northeast since the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, light-grade, low-sulphur oil was discovered near Dayr az Zawr in eastern Syria. This discovery relieved Syria of the need to import light oil to mix with domestic heavy crude in refineries. Recently, Syrian oil production has been about 530,000 barrels per day. Although its oil reserves are small compared to those of many other Arab states, Syria's petroleum industry accounts for a majority of the country's export income. The government has successfully begun to work with international energy companies to develop Syria's promising natural gas reserves, both for domestic use and export. U.S. energy firm, ConocoPhillips, completed a large natural gas gathering and production facility for Syria in late 2000, and will continue to serve as operator of the plant until December 2005. In 2003, Syria experienced some success in attracting U.S. Petroleum companies, signing an exploration deal with partners Devon Energy and Gulfsands and a seismic survey contract with Veritas.

Syria has made progress in easing its heavy foreign debt burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with virtually all of its key creditors in Europe. In May 2005, Russia and Syria signed a deal that wrote off nearly three-quarters of Syria's debt to Russia, approximately €10.5 billion ($13 billion). The agreement left Syria with less than €3 billion (just over $3.6 billion) owed to Moscow. Half of it would be repaid over the next 10 years, while the rest would be paid into Russian accounts in Syrian banks and could be used for Russian investment projects in Syria and for buying Syrian products.


In summary, Russia seems to be taking the lead Syrian oil development. That means Russian corporations are those benefiting from the natural resources. This could be the reason for Dick Cheney's recent criticism of Russian democracy. It may just be coincidence.

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