Descent into Madness

We are citizens of one world, one planet, and one species.  If we cannot, or will not, grasp that key fact – and act accordingly – then we will all be either doomed to extinction or our lives will become much more primitive and terrible; to a point where a common life’s experience will be aptly described as painful, brutal, and short.  We can no longer be members of the discordant tribes that we call nations, or religions, and hope to survive what our future holds.

This is the first article in a regular blog addressing the common world events and problems that face all of us; but focusing on the citizens of the United States, each member nation of the GCC, and the people of the surrounding region of what is commonly called the Middle East.  I hope these blogs will not only identify and clarify the common problems that we face but also provide positive suggestions addressing the options that we might have to help constructively face and, perhaps, resolve some of these problems.  

As our world is beginning to experience a Sixth Extinction (1), oil prices may hover between $30.00 and $40.00 USD/barrel for (at least) the next decade, and we slowly descend into political madness; how will we cope, as citizens of this world, and how will our lives change into the future?  This is only one of many key questions that we will face and that the articles submitted within this blog will discuss.  For most of us, life is a struggle.  That struggle will be much more difficult into the future if we remain insular and are ignorant regarding the events and actions that both surround us and influence the character and quality of our lives.  After all, “This life’s hard, but it’s harder if you’re stupid.”  (2)

One nation, the United States (U.S.), has done more damage to the GCC over the years since the end of World War II than any other.  While the actions of various trans-national oil companies have brought uneven prosperity to the GCC; that prosperity is only one side of a coin where, when turned over, we find governments overthrown and countries left in either despotic rule or within the grips of terrorism.  Since it was the policies of the U.S. that gave birth to both the revolution in Iran and Isil (also called Isis or the pejorative Da'ish); terrorism in the GCC has metastasized like a cancer to the point where none within the GCC are safe and two nations, Iraq and Syria, have been functionally destroyed – with their populations facing a diaspora of both tragic and historic proportions.

We will all be parties to future events that will occur within the GCC; both in terms of dealing with this wholly preventable human tragedy within Iraq and Syria as well as doing so within a region that has radically reduced resources.  Just one example, Saudi Arabia, shows us what we are facing when we address our regional economic future.  Estimates from the international financial community indicate that Saudi Arabia needs oil to be priced at $106.00 USD/barrel in order to balance its budget.  Oil will not be at that price again for long after that nation runs out of international cash reserves – if ever.  The economic future of other GCC nations is not much better. (3)

Yet, it isn’t an adequate response to simply say that Isil doesn’t represent Islam or that the U.S. should be forced to clean up the mess that it has made of the entire region.  When dealing with a population in the U.S. that is, on the whole, both insular and ignorant; and who have a large minority of one political party supporting a candidate like Donald Trump, the implications for the GCC may be dire well into the foreseeable future.  With that being the case, many discussions within this blog will focus upon what is happening in the U.S. and how that will impact the GCC.  

The primary purpose of this blog is to provide a forum in which to explore the evolving realities that we face within the GCC, the changing nature of the threats that we face both from terrorism and financial change, the events occurring (primarily) in the U.S. that will impact us here in the GCC, and then identify the types of policies and actions that are needed to ensure the long-term prosperity of our peoples.  I hope that you will join me in this journey.

References:

(1)  Sixth Extinction:  http://www.elizabethkolbert.com/
(2)  Often misquoted from John Wayne – actually from a 1970 novel titled The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins

(3)  Saudi Oil and financial situation:  http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/saudi-arabias-oil-induced-cash-crunch-may-come-quicker-than-you-think?__lsa=f313-65b7