European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Not just Oil sheiks who am the arabs by Joy Aschenbach National geographic iraqi president Saddam Hussein a Battle cry on the persian Gulf summons arabs against the world. But the crisis unleashed by iraqis invasion of Kuwait shattered Arab Unity to an unprecedented degree Clovis Maksoud said recently in resigning his Post with the league of Arab states. Since 1979, Maksoud had been the Arab league s observer at the United nations and its chief . Representative. A lebanese National he Calls the 45-year-old league Quot the Arab National Quot now a Maksoud laments Quot the Arab House has fallen on what is the Arab world who Are the arabs an Arab it appears is anyone who Speaks arabic As a Mother Tongue and says Quot i am an today an estimated 200 million people do. Their leaders complain that these Arab millions Are stereotyped in the West As hostage taking terrorists or Jet setting Oil Rich sheiks in dark glasses or suspicious looking figures in Long Robes and headdresses lurking in the shadows. The majority of arabs Are poor agricultural people a such As egyptians syrians palestinians moroccans and yemenis. They live in lands mostly desert that stretch More than 4,500 Miles from the Atlantic Ocean across North Africa around the Eastern Mediterranean through the arabian Peninsula to the persian Gulf and arabian sea. Quot we Are one nation of Independent states. We Are All Arab people but with different citizenship a says Maksoud. Arab lands Are divided among 20 countries and the stateless Palestine liberation organization that belong to the league. Egypt is the most populous Arab state coins sewn onto a veil Are a sign of wealth among bedouin women in Egypt a Sinai who still Wear the face covering prescribed by the moslem religion. New urgency in search for Oil by Michael Woods National geographic under deserts and icecaps below mountains and oceans the endless quest for Oil a Lifeblood of the industrialized world a has taken on a new sense of urgency. Long before the latest crisis in the Middle East Oil companies had dispatched prospectors into some of the Remote regions of the Globe. The Promise of new More secure Oil sources led them from the Snow swept desolation of Alaska s Beaufort sea to the steamy rain forests of Papua new Guinea. Quot we re looking for gnats where we once used to look for elephants Quot remarked Veteran Oil explorer Bob Laing. As chief geophysicist for Cal Tex Pacific Indonesia Laing echoes the words of others engaged in the quest. In the 19508 and �?T60s, Oil companies were searching for Bonanza a new Fields containing at least a billion barrels of recoverable crude Oil. Some Petroleum geologists despair of Ever repeating such huge strikes. Their pessimism emerges from current understanding of the geography and economics of Oil exploration. It teaches a bitter lesson to everyone hoping for major new Oil strikes outside the strife torn Middle East a for the foreseeable future the worlds principal Petroleum repository. The most recent estimates of world crude Oil reserves deposits recoverable with existing technology were made last january by the . Energy department. They show a total of 1,000.5 billion barrels. Fully two thirds of that Cache a 645.7 billion barrels a lies under the persian Gulf Region saudi Arabia Iraq the United Arab emirates Kuwait and Iran. Most of the remaining one third is divided among the soviet Union Venezuela Mexico and the United states. Experts agree that important new Oil Fields will be discovered in the future. But no expert predicts a discovery the size of Middle East Fields. Oil and natural Gas deposits almost certainly will be found in traditional Oil producing areas where governments sometimes Are highly conservative in estimating actual reserves. In 1989, for instance saudi Arabia acknowledged that its reserves were 50 percent larger than previously announced. Likewise experts say there is great potential for discovery of Rich new Oil Fields in the soviet Union and China. The soviet Union already is the worlds largest Oil producer pumping about 11 million barrels a Day. Estimates put soviet Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes reserves at a relatively modest 58 billion barrels. But additional reserves Are believed to exist in Interior and Continental shelf areas of that vast country. China which now produces 2.8 million barrels of Oil a Day a As much As Iraq a likewise May have huge undiscovered Petroleum reserves. New Oil strikes also Are Likely in countries not usually regarded As Energy producers. A group of Oil companies drilling off the Northwest coast of Australia for instance recently struck a Field that contains an estimated 100 million barrels of Oil. The five andean nations of Colombia Peru Chile Ecuador and Bolivia already produce a total of almost 1 million barrels of Oil daily. New exploration efforts Are under Way in that Region. In Africa Oil companies Are exploring or preparing to explore areas of Zambia Zimbabwe Kenya and Chad. In Southwest Asia several big Western Oil companies Are exploring or producing on Sumatra in Myanmar formerly Burma and in Vietnam. Geologic features that hint of enormous reservoirs of Oil have made the rugged Highlands of Papua new Guinea the focus of an intensive search. The potential for discovery of major new reserves also exist in the United states a but at a risk that environmentalists View As occupying i Africa Middle eat language a Aires and be ins Ancyl language 1 but Eligic intertwined soil and the arabic says Matsoi a one Olej distinguish a John Russyl University a Washington moslem a Iran Turkey Indonesia isl n Quot we Arab Quot surge ogre colonial exp along thege mechanism Quot we have of Belongis interact at All a every who Arab Unity i Hisham Shal All the Divisio boundaries Arab origin As natural Gas flares from an Auto ii Gabon a supervisor makes an is too great. The most promising site is t coastal Plain of the Arctic National wild Refuge in northeastern Alaska. Energy department studies indicate the area May contain Between 600 Mill and 9.2 billion barrels of Oil. But ecology concerns have led Congress and pres Bush to keep the area off limits to Oil exploration. How much More Oil recoverable wit conventional technology remains undiscovered in these and other area the world la position Between Arab Asia and Arab scholars generally agree that the arabic us Tongue related to hebrew Best Quot language is the vehicle that reinforces cohesion we Are Arab Quot says Maksoud. L another expert Quot is the greatest Bond of to binds. Arab culture and islam Are Ause Mohammed sprang from arabian led teachings of the Koran were written in part of the texture of Arab civilization a nearly 95 percent of arabs Are moslem. La guest mistakes americans make is not Between religion and nationality Quot says Idle East history professor at Georgetown iter for contemporary Arab studies in v Only about 20 percent of the world s la. Some non Arab countries such As Pakistan Are overwhelmingly moslem world s most populous moslem nation. It not easily understood Quot Maksoud says j spread exposed us to a multiplicity of ices the French in Algeria the British be did not develop a unified National pulls the pull of sovereignty and the pull Jne Arab nation. Diversity and cohesion ies. This creates Arab identity has at its Core the notion of he Arab Homeland should be one a says Georgetown history professor. Quot almost of states result from the colonial age. The 20th ire in the arabian Peninsula Arabia in the to Choc the 3clvlllzation Quot pure Quot arabs belonged to a the h Quot cited southwestern Arabia now Yemen though Eady arabs included Oasis dwellers and desert zyagpsed0uins Quot a a Quot denied Quot bed Uin Quot Conn run psf inh he seventh Century uni red and inspired reached from ? Arnea within �?T00 years the Arab realm indent Rem c a s Edge rivalling size the ancient roman Empire. Damascus Baghdad and Cairo became cultural and political centers of the world during the Golden age 850 to 1050 of Arab cultural achievement Baghdad was the worlds largest City and Arab mathematicians astronomers physicians and philosophers excelled said Ruedy. But the ottomans and Oil would reshape the Arab world fat. Nolc Shtur is bleginnin9in 1517> most Arab territories Tell under the control of ottoman turks. With the dissolution of the ottoman Empire after world War i Britain and France determined most modern Arab a boundaries. The worlds biggest Oil Boom transformed Arab society. 7-j0�?zda fan Arab is someone easily bashed. In his Book the arabs David Lamb of the los Angeles times contends probably no ethnic or religious group has been so constantly and massively disparaged in the Media As the Arab Over the past two Quot we have a feeling of paranoia that the West is dictating our Agenda Quot Maksoud says. Quot we want to share in making our despite deep divisions among Arab states arabs still dream of a unified nation or at least a Strong federation of states. Quot its what everyone wants Quot Sharabi says Quot but its a most elusive National geographic College graduation Arab style in Amman Jordan May produce a future Leader for the worlds estimated200 million National geographic 1 offshore Oil Rig in the South Atlantic off on from a rubber boat. Nobody knows. But 500 billion barrels a about twice the reserves of saudi Arabia a is a frequent estimate. At current world Petroleum production Levels of 61 million barrels a Day even that would last barely 23 years. However vast reserves of other forms of Petroleum could help Supply an Energy hungry world Well into the 21 St Century. Petroleum occurs not just As a liquid but in solid form in certain rocks and Sands known deposits of these materials in North America contain More Oil than All the persian Gulf countries combined. World Oil distribution Robinson projection major Oil Fields map by Daniel j. Ortiz National geographic society a 1990 estimated global reserves of crude Oil total More than 1 trillion barrels. Two thirds of that lies under five persian Gulf countries. Most of the rest is divided among the soviet Union Venezuela Mexico and the United states. A saturday �er27,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15
