Islam and the Global Oil EconomySlide 2McWorld vs. JihadIs there one Islam?Islam and CapitalismRadical Islam and the Oil EconomyThe political economy of oilPolitical control of Saudi ArabiaWahhabism and the formation of Saudi ArabiaSlide 10The rise of the house of SaudThe MujahideenAl-Qaeda and AfghanistanConclusionSlide 15Islam and the Global Oil Economy•“They hate our freedom” President George Bush in an address to a joint meeting of congress and the American people September 2001.–Radical Islamic movements are often portrayed to be fundamentally at odds with western conceptions of freedom. –The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center are seen to be an expression of radical Islam’s hatred of western economic freedom and capitalism more generally.McWorld vs. Jihad•McWorld: The globalizing powers of capitalism. •Jihad: In this instance, the “narrowly conceived faiths” opposed to the homogenizing force of capital.•This play on words seems to suggest that the Islamic faith is in some way fundamentally anti-capitalist and anti-modern.Is there one Islam?•Like Christianity, the Islamic faith can take on a variety of different forms and traditions–Sufism and Wahhabism–Differences revolve around interpretations of the Prophet’s thoughts and beliefs, interpretations of Sharia law, and interpretations of who should be the Prophet’s successor.Islam and Capitalism•Given the diversity of Islamic traditions, it is impossible to assume that there is something fundamentally anti-capitalist about Islam. –It may be better to think of Islam as a diverse set of traditions that revolve around the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet, rather than as a homogenous, coherent entity.Radical Islam and the Oil Economy•Mitchell argues that instead of thinking in simple binaries, such as McWorld vs. Jihad, we should think of the rise of radical Islam as a process of McJihad.–By this he means that in two of the most powerful global industries, arms and oil, the mechanisms of profit making appear to depend in large part on the social force and moral authority of conservative Islamic movements.–In other words, the mechanisms of global capitalism depend in important ways on the existence of radical, authoritarian Islamic regimes.The political economy of oil•Oil is a strategic commodity with a low elasticity of demand. This allows for enormous profits to be made.•Oil is the second most abundant liquid in the world. Therefore to make profits oil companies and oil producing countries need to actively create scarcity.•One country, Saudi Arabia, has the greatest surplus of oil in the world.–Its unused oil capacity, which can be easily turned off and on, is greater than the total oil production of every country except Russia and the US. Around 3 million barrels a day of surplus capacity. –The possibility of earning oil profits anywhere in the world depends on the political control of Saudi Arabia.Political control of Saudi Arabia•The monarchical rule of Saudi Arabia is achieved through an unstable relationship between multinational oil companies and radical Islamic movements. –The global political economy of oil depends in large measure on the existence of radical Islamic movements. –Loss of control over Saudi oil would threaten the possibility of extracting massive profits from the sale of oil.Wahhabism and the formation of Saudi Arabia •Wahhabism, otherwise know as followers of the doctrine of Tawhid, or muwahhidun.–Ikhwan, or Brotherhood, are followers of this Islamic tradition. –Their goals were: •1. To replace the polytheistic traditions of Arab nomads and “heretical Muslims” with the strict monotheism of tawhid•2. To create an egalitarian Muslim society opposed to colonial relations with the west.•Initially with British, and later with American military support, Ibn Saud, the first king and founder of Saudi Arabia, was able to mobilize the religious zeal of the Ikhwan to expand his control over the Arabian peninsula following World War I. –As new parts of Arabia fell under his control he gained favor with the Ikhwan by allowing them to pursue one of their primary goals: to punish people they thought to be heretics (including Shia muslims) or people who acted ‘immorally’.The rise of the house of Saud•After taking control of the Arabian peninsula Ibn Saud renamed the region Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world to be named after a single family. •Ibn Saud used oil rents derived from Aramco (The Arab American Oil Company) to finance the consolidation of his power in the region.–Ikhwan leadership were willing to ignore the presence of a foreign oil company in exchange for weapons and support for their program to convert Arabia to the teachings and discipline of tawhid.The Mujahideen •By the 1950’s the Ikhwan militias became incorporated into the formal mechanisms of rule in Saudi Arabia, renamed the National Guard, their members are known as mujahideen (those who fight jihad).•In the 1980s the madrasas (religious schools) run by the Ikhwan became sources of political discontent in Saudi Arabia over rising poverty among the middle class and the perceived colonial relationship between the Saudi elite and the US government. –To quell this dissent the House of Saud exported as many as 12,000 majahideen to Afghanistan to fight a jihad against the Soviets. This was in part coordinated by a young mujahideen named Osama bin Laden.Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan•Cold war politics in the US: funded the mujahideen and drew out the conflict in order to draw the USSR into a Vietnam like quagmire in Afghanistan•From the mujahideen emerged Al-Qaeda.•The mujahideen’s success against the Soviet’s emboldened their movement.Conclusion•In order to maintain the global scarcity, and therefore massive profits, of oil, multinational oil companies financed the arming and training of radical Islamic movements.•This was done in order to gain political control over the massive oil fields of Saudi Arabia. •Thus, the rise of radical Islamic movements in the Middle East have their roots in efforts to control the production of Saudi oil through the moral control of radical