Energy policies in the Middle East from the Cold War to the present: a shift in political balances.

Abstract

The work aims to provide an interpretive framework of the Middle Eastern energy policies since the second half of the last century to the present day, with attention to three strategic countries from the end of the Cold War. After a brief historical overview of the Cold War conflict with its alternating phases between war and détente, useful to provide a background on the political and economic balance at the origin of those who can be found today, Chapter 2 will highlight how this conflict influenced the political and economic guidelines of the Middle Eastern countries, opening a race to get consents and favors. In this period, the energy supply was an extremely important element in repositioning the world balance and power: oil dependency created an inevitable polarization between the countries who owning of this well, the so-called oil-rich countries, and those who not owning it, or oil-poor. Therefore, we will recall the highlights from the discovery of oil, through the dominance of the Seven Sisters up to the creation of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries with its strategies, often unsuccessful, put in place to influence global policies.

The second part of this work will focus on an analysis of three specific Middle Eastern countries, each with its specificities, in the period between the end of the Cold War to the present day: a detailed study as accurate as possible to bring to light, even if partially, how the Middle East have evolved its energy policies towards some of the most important countries in the world. The first case study is Saudi Arabia, as it has always been one of the leading exporters of oil, not too long ago the central country for the US energy supply and now in favor of an expansion of bilateral relations in the energy field with Russia. In Chapter 4 we will analyze the energy policies of Iran, with its historically contentious relationship with the United States, culminating in a recent nuclear deal under the Obama administration and its more stable relations with Russia. The third case study is Turkey, oil-poor country but strategically important because of its geographical location: Turkey is a bridge between the energy resources of oil and natural gas of the Middle East and Europe, dependent on these resources.

Finally, the proposal is to give an overview on the Middle Eastern geopolitical orientation, and suggest a potential attitude of cohesion and aggregation, towards third countries.