What was the political situation in the Middle East after WWII (especially regarding oil production)?

Answer 1

"The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the defeated Central Powers, was partitioned into a number of separate nations. Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the departure of European powers, notably Britain and France. They were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States."

"In the 20th century, the region's significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance. Mass production of oil began around 1945, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates having large quantities of oil. Estimated oil reserves, especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are some of the highest in the world, and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countries."

"During the Cold War, the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union, as they competed to influence regional allies. Within this contextual framework, the United States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and into the 21st century, the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war. Current issues include the Iraq War, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Iranian nuclear program."

"Middle East : History" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#History

"During the 1920s and 1930s Iraq, Syria and Egypt moved towards independence, although the British and French did not formally depart the region until they were forced to do so after World War II. In the region of Palestine the conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation which the British could neither resolve nor extricate themselves from. The rise to power of Adolf Hitler in Germany created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to create a Jewish state in Palestine, and the evident intentions of the Zionists provoked increasingly fierce Arab resistance. (See also Arab-Israeli conflict, History of the Arab-Israeli conflict, History of Palestine and History of Israel.)"

"This struggle culminated in the 1947 United Nations plan to partition Palestine to create a Jewish state and an Arab state in the narrow space between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The Arab leaders rejected this plan, while the Jewish leaders accepted it. When the British Mandate expired, the Zionist leadership declared the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia intervened and were defeated by Israel. About 800,000 Palestinians fled from areas annexed by Israel and became refugees in neighbouring countries, thus creating the "Palestinian problem" which has bedevilled the region ever since. Approximately two-thirds of 758,000—866,000 of the Jews expelled or who fled from Arab lands after 1948 were absorbed and naturalized by the State of Israel."

"The departure of the European powers from direct control of the region, the establishment of Israel, and the increasing importance of the oil industry, marked the creation of the modern Middle East. These developments led to a growing presence of the United States in Middle East affairs. The U.S. was the ultimate guarantor of the stability of the region, and from the 1950s the dominant force in the oil industry. When republican revolutions brought radical anti-western regimes to power in Egypt in 1954, in Syria in 1963, in Iraq in 1968 and in Libya in 1969, the Soviet Union, seeking to open a new arena of the Cold War in the Middle East, allied itself with Arab rulers such as Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. These regimes gained popular support through their promises to destroy the state of Israel, defeat the U.S. and other "western imperialists," and to bring prosperity to the Arab masses. When they failed to deliver on their promises, they became increasingly despotic."

"In response to this challenge to its interests in the region, the U.S. felt obliged to defend its remaining allies, the conservative monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran and the Persian Gulf emirates, whose methods of rule were almost as unattractive to western eyes as those of the anti-western regimes. Iran in particular became a key U.S. ally, until a revolution led by the Shi'a clergy overthrew the monarchy in 1979 and established a theocratic regime which was even more anti-western than the secular regimes in Iraq or Syria. This forced the U.S. into a close alliance with Saudi Arabia, a reactionary, corrupt and oppressive monarchy, and a regime, moreover, dedicated to the destruction of Israel. The list of Arab-Israeli wars includes a great number of major wars such as 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1956 Suez War, 1967 Six Day War, 1970 War of Attrition, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, as well as a number of lesser conflicts."

"Begin, Carter and Sadat concluded a peace treaty in 1978In 1979, Egypt under Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel, ending the prospects of a united Arab military front. From the 1970s the Palestinians, led by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization, resorted to a prolonged campaign of violence against Israel and against American, Jewish and western targets generally, as a means of weakening Israeli resolve and undermining western support for Israel. The Palestinians were supported in this, to varying degrees, by the regimes in Syria, Libya, Iran and Iraq. The high point of this campaign came in the 1975 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 condemning Zionism as a form of racism and the reception given to Arafat by the United Nations General Assembly. The Resolution 3379 was revoked in 1991 by the UNGA Resolution 4686."

"History of the Middle East" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Middle_East#European_domination

Answer 2

Middle East After World War 2

Answer 3

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What was the political situation in the Middle East after WWII (especially regarding oil production)?

Answer 4

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The Middle East has been has been an area of concern for many years and it is not gotten any safer. There are so many areas of concern that where to begin is the problem. Iraq, Iran, Israel and Palestine, where does one begin. The oil, Muslims and religious fanatics. The list goes on and on. Maybe with all that is happening we should only be showing support to those involved in diplomatic ventures and say nothing. But I am one that does not keep my mouth shut very well and I would love to discuss so much of what is going on there that trying to form some sort of forum here to do this might be a great way of doing this. One could go on forever. What I would like to propose is a coded question that all would know was for open Middle East questions and answers. For example , starting the question by say, This is a Middle East Forum question. Peace

Answer 5

the the current political situations require good thinking and steady nerves for one lets begin by the Dems unfairly attacking Ms condalezza they are dead wrong if anything they should give madame Rice and the President a pat on the back for doing such a good job, and to correct all of you out there on your assessment of george Bush you are dead wrong this man is not as dumb as you think he is he is a very cautious person carefuly assessing the risk before making any unwise decisions Believe me our govt knows the risk involved for hitting Iran but you have to relize this president is just as determined as the Iranians are when a man has faith in God he fears nothing really. As for the sanctions they are truly stinging because you can tell by the General Jaffari,choice of words who is Irans Corps Commander commanding officer. Bush has the hardest choice as a president either do something now or leave it for the next administration in which case the problem would get bigger and bigger and even costlier. so to all you defeatest out therethat are so crtitical stop being so critical. but then againt I understand your views just think if you were not there to attack Dr Rice and the president our two party system would not be alive at all so keep up the troublemaking.

Answer 6

Some parts of the Middle East (Palestine, Syria, many of the Gulf states etc.) were still colonies. The major oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, were independent. But in all cases the oil companies themselves were foreign and getting the oil on very, very easy terms. Things were about to get very difficult however with a) the creation of the state of Israel and b) the rise of Arab nationalism/socialism.

Answer 7

The Saudis, Turkey, Greece were made US allies during the War.
Israel was established, the Palestinian population expelled.
Iran is occupied by UK, US and USSR and signs a pact to give equal opportunity to all players for its oil. After players withdraw, Iran gives preferential trade treaty to UK.
In Egypt, Sadat begins to amass popularity and seeks to form Arab League and retakes Suez.
China, USSR have allies East of Iran. Iran and ME controlled by US/UK but in disarray. Iraq goes through modernizing socialists but they are toppled by US backed Ba'athists. Iranian nationalist also toppled by Us/UK backed Shah.
I think eventually all of this western pressures in to the Middle East motivated the formation of OPEC.

Answer 8

The US and Britain controlled it all, thru Aramco and BP, the oil companies. Actually not much has changed.