Jessica+Hosfeld--The+Middle+East+in+the+80s+and+90s

=The Middle East in the 1980s and 1990s =



The Middle East is a region of several countries that spans southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa. The countries include Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, Qatar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, Turkmenistan, Kazkhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Middle East had its fair share of problems and happiness, as did the US, which led to both prosperity and controversy.

Jimmy Carter, Israel, and Egypt
For thirty years, Middle East countries Israel and Egypt had been deeply engulfed in a violent war amongst themselves. It had been a difficult war for both countries.

The ceremony of sorts took place on the White House lawn in Washington and was broadcast live on television. The leaders of each country--Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin--shook hands under the beaming watch of US president Jimmy Carter. The two Middle Eastern leaders described the ceremony as a 'historic turning point.' Sadat in particular praised President Carter as 'the man who performed the miracle.' Mr. Carter was much more careful about the entire thing, saying the treaty was 'a first step on a long and difficult road.'

News of the signing wasn't taken too well in the Arab world. The Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait was stormed, and there was also a strike in the West Bank.

Yasir Arafat, PLO leader, said this of the signing: "Let them sign what they like. False peace will not last."

He accused Sadat of betraying Egypt and made several threats on his life. Because of this, Egypt is thought likely to be expelled from the ARAB League for going it alone to negotiate peace with Israel.

A statement from the nine European Community nations praised the efforts of the signers for peace. However, possibly unintentionally, they claimed that a settlement would happen only if the Palestinian people were given a homeland.

The treaty itself was a direct result of the Camp David Peace Accords, created and signed in September 1978. Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Prize that year.

Sadat, however, wasn't very lucky. He died for his peaceful decision, assassinated in 1981 by extremists in Egypt's army.

The last Israeli troops were cleared from the Sinai Peninsula by 1982. Israel invaded Lebanon soon after. Peace seemed to be only a far-fetched dream for the Middle East until the Oslo Peace Process in 1993.

The Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed in 1979 and was a stepping stone for finding peace in the Middle East.



In 1968, Yasser Arafat took over the PLO. It was the dawn of a new era of terror in the Middle East.



He was an extremist, and as soon as he took over the PLO, he set out to destroy the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and King Hussein. He signed many agreements, but honored none of them.

In June 1970, Arafat had already begun ravaging Jordan. He signed an agreement with the Jordanian Prime Minister to withdraw his troops from the capital. Of course, he signed it, but didn't honor it.

Hussein and Arafat signed a cease-fire in Cairo, Egypt on September 27th of the same year. Arafat broke this commitment as well.

On October 13, 1970, Hussein and Arafat tried again, singing another agreement in Amman. It stated that Arafat and the PLO would recognize Jordanian sovereignity and the authority of the king. They would, according the agreement, remove their troops. Fighting continued, however, particularly in Amman, Irbid, and Jarash, where Arafat's main bases were located.

Arafat broke more agreements through the summer of 1971. Being under an enormous amount of pressure, he pulled his forces finally from Amman in April 1971, but continously assaulted Hussein's authority. On July 19, 1971, relief swept Jordan as its government announced that the last PLO bases in Jordan were destroyed--Arafat has shifted his attention and troops to Lebanon, and wreaked havoc on it for the next decade.

Arafat's terroristic nature didn't just involve war. In March 1973, eight Fatah terrorists murdered the US ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and two other diplomats. Arafat was reported to be in the Black September radio command center in Beirut when the message to kill three Western diplomats in Khartoum was sent. Arafat was rumored to have personally congratulated the murderers. Arafat's voice was apparently recorded giving the orders to execute.

The PLO started with terror attacks, but still got nowhere near its true goal--eliminating Israel.

In 1974, the PLO's focus switched from purely terroristic actions to a focus that would include political-diplomatic elements, and adopting the 'Phased Plan,' which is described as follows...


 * 1) Through the "armed struggle" (i.e., terrorism), to establish an "independent combatant national authority" over any territory that is "liberated" from Israeli rule. (Article 2)
 * 2) To continue the struggle against Israel, using the territory of the national authority as a base of operations. (Article 4)
 * 3) To provoke an all-out war in which Israel's Arab neighbors destroy it entirely ("liberate all Palestinian territory"). (Article 8)

Followers of the PLO became more unmotivated because of this plan, feeling that the organization was beating around the bush, until the major terroristic attacks began.

The PLO was implicated in weapons smuggling in Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Latin America. The extremities of their terroristic actions will apparently never be taken to court.

Yasser Arafat and Iraq's Saddam Hussein were very cooperative with each other before Saddam's death. In response to American action in Iraq, Arafat was quoted as saying, "There is no choice for the PLO but to oppose the American-sponsored Allied Force, because it is in the alliance with Israel. Anyone responsible for shedding the blood of Iraqis will be punished."



OPEC and the Oil Embargo
The 1973 oil crisis began on October 15, 1973, when OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) proclaimed an oil embargo, due to the US deciding to re-supply Israeli military during the Yom Kippur war.

OAPEC claimed it would no longer ship oil to the United States if they continued supporting Israel. And, seeing as the United States has a very limited supply of oil, it became a national crisis.

In response, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decided to raise worldwide oil prices to combat this. This led to several steep income declines.



Industry at the time mostly relied on oil and relied on OPEC as their supplier. The stock market crash between 1973-1974 is, for the most part, blamed on this oil embargo, and the shortage and price increases it brought. Inflation was already prominent during this time period.

On October 16, 1973, the day after OAPEC declared its embargo, OPEC raised the posted price of oil by 70%. This resulted in the price of oil being nearly quadrupled. The embargo only gained more support after this, with Libya and eventually Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab states, quickly following suit. Though this embargo was meant mainly for the US, it was also extended to the Netherlands.

Before the embargo, Arab states had a sense of financial security, being highly paid for their oil. This surplus of money promoted their growth. As they began the embargo, their finances began to decline, as did their economy.

In the years to come, OPEC began to decline, and in 1981, it was being surpassed by other countries, tremendously, in income and production.

The embargo had a devastating effect on the motor industry, which, as is commonly known, very much relies on oil. Smaller cars that needed less gasoline and were able to run on smaller engines were designed, but, as the demand for large cars skyrocketed, automakers found themselves in a deep economic pit.

Relations between the US and the Arab Countries today concerning oil are still a little sketchy, due to the current war overseas, and, due to that, the price of oil is constantly skyrocketing and plummetting.

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