GLT1: The Effect Of Petro-Globalization On Non-Western Cultures
The Effect of Petro-Globalization on Non-Western Cultures:
The Saudis and the U’wa
Jon Stafford
GLT1 Issues in Behavioral Science
Subdomain 111.6.1-11
In 1938, a team of American geologists struck oil outside the village of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, touching off a chain of events that would propel the backwards desert kingdom into the modern age and change the course of world history. In 1992, the American-based Occidental Petroleum won permission from the Colombian government to search for oil on land belonging to the native U’wa people, touching off a chain of events that would lead to decades of strife. These two events, separated by over five decades, represent a kind of yin and yang of globalization, extreme …show more content…
That same year oil was discovered in Bahrain, touching off a wave of petroleum exploration on the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudi strike in ’38 quickly led to more, and it soon became clear that Saudi Arabia was sitting on top of the largest crude oil reserves in the world. The importance of this would soon be underscored in World War 2, as industrial nations’ mechanized military might came to rely more and more on petroleum-based fuels. This reliance would only grow and expand during the postwar years, eventually leading to the petroleum-based world economy of …show more content…
Indeed, the medieval comparison is apt. Government and religion are intertwined, as the Saudi monarchy has long been given legitimacy by its alliance with the Wahhabis, a conservative sect of Sunni Islam that dominates Saudi society. There is no freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia; indeed for a foreigner to even discuss other religions with a Saudi could be grounds for expulsion. Women have no rights, they cannot vote, drive, or even leave the house without a man’s permission. Homosexuality is punishable by death. Public executions remain the norm, broadcast to reach a larger audience. Medieval social policy meets 21st century
The Saudis and the U’wa
Jon Stafford
GLT1 Issues in Behavioral Science
Subdomain 111.6.1-11
In 1938, a team of American geologists struck oil outside the village of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, touching off a chain of events that would propel the backwards desert kingdom into the modern age and change the course of world history. In 1992, the American-based Occidental Petroleum won permission from the Colombian government to search for oil on land belonging to the native U’wa people, touching off a chain of events that would lead to decades of strife. These two events, separated by over five decades, represent a kind of yin and yang of globalization, extreme …show more content…
That same year oil was discovered in Bahrain, touching off a wave of petroleum exploration on the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudi strike in ’38 quickly led to more, and it soon became clear that Saudi Arabia was sitting on top of the largest crude oil reserves in the world. The importance of this would soon be underscored in World War 2, as industrial nations’ mechanized military might came to rely more and more on petroleum-based fuels. This reliance would only grow and expand during the postwar years, eventually leading to the petroleum-based world economy of …show more content…
Indeed, the medieval comparison is apt. Government and religion are intertwined, as the Saudi monarchy has long been given legitimacy by its alliance with the Wahhabis, a conservative sect of Sunni Islam that dominates Saudi society. There is no freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia; indeed for a foreigner to even discuss other religions with a Saudi could be grounds for expulsion. Women have no rights, they cannot vote, drive, or even leave the house without a man’s permission. Homosexuality is punishable by death. Public executions remain the norm, broadcast to reach a larger audience. Medieval social policy meets 21st century