This house believes that oil has been more of a curse than a blessing for the Middle East.
Mismanagement of oil revenues across the region has held back the development of a vibrant private sector and hampered work productivity of the new generations of Gulf nationals, according to Doha Debates, a forum for dialogue and freedom of speech in Qatar. The forum, in a recent debate, voted by a...
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| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Video DVD |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Doha, Qatar :
Qatar Foundation,
[2005]
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| Series: | Doha debates ;
2nd ser., no. 2. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.thedohadebates.com View this debate online |
| Summary: | Mismanagement of oil revenues across the region has held back the development of a vibrant private sector and hampered work productivity of the new generations of Gulf nationals, according to Doha Debates, a forum for dialogue and freedom of speech in Qatar. The forum, in a recent debate, voted by a 63 per cent majority that "oil has been more of a curse than a blessing to the Middle East". The Doha Debates project is supported by the Qatar Foundation and invites international speakers to debate the burning issues of the Arab and Islamic world. The audience is encouraged to participate by asking questions. Tim Sebastian, former presenter of BBC's Hardtalk programme, moderates the debate. The panelists supporting the motion last Tuesday were Hossein Askari, a noted Iranian writer and intellectual, and Carole Nakhle, an independent petroleum analyst based in London. Opposing the motion were Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi national security consultant and managing director of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, and Ramzi Salman, an Iraqi advisor to the Qatari Minister of Energy and ex-deputy secretary general for Opec in Vienna. Askari said that over the past 13 years the Arab world had known more wars and conflicts than any other region in the world, and they were mostly due to oil. "Oil revenues have not corresponded to a growth of these countries' econ-omies and gross domestic products remain very low if compared to regions without oil," he said. The cause must be attributed to the mismanagement of oil revenues used as a crutch to avoid reforms, he said. "Oil should and could have been a blessing but it has been badly mismanaged." Nawaf Obaid argued that without oil the countries in the region today would have no infrastructures, schools, roads and hospitals. "If you compare the economic growth of the oil countries with that of countries with no oil, it is monumental," he said. "There is waste and corruption, but it is not due to oil." Obaid said oil has been the most important factor driving change in the region. However Carol Nakhle, who is also an advisor to the British Parliament on energy issues, noted that despite high oil revenues the overall performance of oil producing nations was very poor in matters related to health, education, human rights and basic freedoms. In addition she said oil rich countries are doing little to build a sustainable non-oil industry, as populations suffers from growing unemployment. |
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| Item Description: | Debate held November 15th, 2005. Videorecording. |
| Physical Description: | 1 videodisc (approximately 45 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. |
| Format: | DVD. |
| Production Credits: | Members of the debate panel: Hossein Askari, Carole Nakhle, and Nawaf Obaid. |