Oil And Palestine:
The New Cold War
By Am Johal
09 May, 2005
Countercurrents.org
Two
significant events happened at the end of April - both of which carried
more meaning than their literal interpretation. But they both had everything
to do with the New Cold War and the reality of American hegemony.
As Russian leader,
Vladimir Putin, touched down in Israel on April 27th, he became the
first Russian or Soviet leader to visit Israel or the Palestinian territories.
Increasingly under
siege at home on the domestic front over issues like privatization,
cuts to social services and pensions, Putin has continued to push through
economic reforms through his centralized political apparatus. He has
also seen the pro-Western uprisings in the former Soviet republics of
Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Mr. Putin has also been witness to the decline
of Russian influence on the world stage for the past fifteen years.
But now there is
a genuine Russian fear, that the oil rich Central Asian republics could
very easily fall under American and Western European influence. It is
as if there is a fear of the old domino theory happening in reverse.
There is very much
a feeling that the push for democracy and free markets in the Arab and
Central Asian world is a Western agenda that comes at a high price and
involves a high degree of social rupture for the nations involved.
No longer a superpower,
Russia is keen to redefine itself.
Having seen much
turmoil since the days when an entire political and economic system
was reduced to Boris Yeltsin standing on a tank in Moscow while leader
Mikhail Gorbachev was held captive at his dacha on the Crimea, Russia
seems ready to once again assume a significant role in international
affairs.
Though its influence
has waned since the collapse of Communism, its old connections to the
Arab states still remain. More than a million Russians have moved to
Israel since the mid-eighties. Russia is one of the Quartet, the four
signatories to the Roadmap to Peace with the United States, the European
Union and the UN. Russia was also once known as the chief patron of
the Palestinians and always shared communist roots with many of its
nationalist Arab allies.
As Putin visited
with Israeli dignitaries last week including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
and President Moshe Katsav, he was widely criticized for Russia's decision
to sell anti-aircraft weapons to Syria and for continuing its support
of nuclear development in Iran.
Later in Ramallah,
Putin was greeted with a cheering crowd as he became the first foreign
head of state to visit Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas since the Palestinian
elections earlier this year. Putin laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat's
grave site and promised Abbas a helicopter and military equipment to
help him rule over militant groups in the Palestinian territories.
"If we expect
Chairman Abbas to fight terrorism effectively, he can't do it with slingshots
and stones. We must understand this," declared Putin.
Mr. Abbas, like
many in the Palestinian leadership, studied in Russia and also speaks
some Russian. Abbas knows that he can expect little from the Americans
based on the peace process thus far.
Mr. Abbas also endorsed
Mr. Putin's plan for a Middle East conference which would be held in
Russia despite the idea being rejected by the United States and Israel.
Meanwhile, at a
conference of oil industry executives in Edinburgh, Matthew Simmons,
an advisor to George W. Bush and an industry executive, commented that
the world was reaching "peak oil" and he expected the price
to skyrocket to $100 by 2008 as supplies failed to meet demand. The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is presently pumping
at 25-year highs, with the extra supplies pushing world oil prices below
$50 a barrel.
A number of commentators,
however, predicted that the entire oil industry is in for an extended
period of restricted economic activity.
It seems clear now
that Russia's role in international affairs will be to buttress American
influence in the region while the US will be looking to secure its oil
supply for the future while maintaining its role in the Middle East.
The new Cold War
looks alot like the old one, but this time it is about Oil and Palestine.
Am Johal is a writer from Vancouver, Canada who completed an
internship with the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens
of Israel.