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Soviet Union to withdraw their na–
val forces from the region, which the
Shah envisions as a "zone of peace. "
The various proposa ls put forth
during his ex tended tour th rough
Southern Asia and the south Paci fi c
ha ve given the Sha h the image of a
leader with vision. In the words of
Prime Minister Gough Whitlam a t a
di nner with the Sha h in Canberra ,
the Shah is " head of a grea t nation,
a great man, the most active, the
most powerfu l, and the mos t
in–
vo lved of the world 's monarchs."
- Dennis Luker and Don Abraham
New European-Arab
Dialogue Under Way
Düsseldoñ:
In early September, secre ta ry
general of the Ara b League, Mach–
mud Riad. visited Bonn. West Ger–
many, where talks with Chancellor
Schmidt a nd his cabinet laid the
foundat ion for a new European–
Ara b d ialogue. An agr eement was
reached to bring toge ther t he 20
Arab League nations a nd the 9 Eu–
ropean Community nations fo r talks
in Pa rís during the second half of
Noverober.
Riad's visit a nd the upcoming
Pa ris conference highlight a no rma–
liza tion of Arab-European relations
which ha ve suffered throughout the
long series of Middle East crises.
Two factors put this Ara b dia–
logue high on the list of European
priorities.
F irst, the industrial na tions of
Western Europe - much mo re de–
penden t on o il from the Middle East
than the United States - are ner–
vou s ly a wa iting the sc hedu l ed
OPEC oil price conference on De–
cember 12, which could result in still
anot her stiff oi l price increase - un–
less someth ing changes in the mea n–
time.
And second ly, Europe's own in–
terna] economic problems invo lving
di scon tent ed f a rmers , s t riki n g
unions, and rampant inftation cer–
tainly put her in the mood fo r dis–
cussing coopera tion. Add to this
PLAIN TRUTH December 1974
lta ly's a nd F rance's plans to ra tion
oil this winter as a result of the pro–
jected demand exceeding the avail–
a ble supply, a nd Germa ny's fea rs of
a coal shortage due to the enormous
energy needs forecast fo r this win–
ter, and the mo ti ve for cooper ation
becomes clea r.
Any favorable o il price agreemen t
could elimina te sorne winter worries
a nd bring a much desir ed boost to
th e econ omic hea lth a nd stabi lity of
Europe overall.
During his visit, Riad also men–
ti o n e d E uropea n d e ve lo pme nt
projects in Arab lands, st rongly
hinting at Ara b fina ncing. Western
E uro pean governmen ts, b a n ks ,
businesses and industries a re also
eager to obtain as many of t he o il
producers' " petrodollars" as pos–
sible in the form of loans or capital
investmen ts from the oil producers.
The alluring prospect of shar ing
Arab oil pro fi ts comes at a time of a
troublesome economy and a wor–
sening unemployment figure for
Germa ny a nd the rest of Western
Europe. There is no doubt that Eu–
rope recogni zes th e inescapa b le
ben efits of having good rela tion–
ships with the Arabs.
T he Ara b League is undoubtedly
looking on the many techno logical
advantages in Europe, including
Europe' s first mu lt ipurpose tactical
bomber. the MRCA swing wing.
As European-Ara b rela tions con–
tinue to develop and tensions con–
tinue
to
gmw in the Midd le Eas t,
the question many are asking is
whether Wes tern Europe will be
able to remain neu tra lly uninvo lved
should another Mideast wa r erupt.
- John Karlson
Europe Faces
Period of Uncertain
Leadership
Brussels:
With intla tion cont inuing to
threaten European economies, with
the lsraeli-Arab situation at con–
stant high-boil. an d with Arab fi-
n a n c i a l power becomin g an
overwhelming reality. the need for
concerted cooperation among the
nine na tions of the European Com–
munity has never been grea ter.
And the Common Marke t had
better show sorne signs of directed
motion before the year is ou t, since
divided, war-torn lreland is sched–
uled to assume t he EEC presidency
in January 1975. For the last six
mon ths of nex t year, faltering l taly
receives the presidency, to be fol–
lowed by L uxembourg for the fi rst
six months of 1976.
In o ther words, Europe must see
sorne dynamic pace-setting lead–
ership now and in t he rema ini ng
weeks of 1974 befare the institut ions
of t he EEC are turned over to na–
tions which are nol, in fact, in a
position to lead Europe into t he
next 18 mont hs of a n uncertain fu–
Lure.
- Ray Kosanke
South Africa Faces
Uncertain Future
J
ohannesburg:
The sun is fast setting on nearly
500 years of Portuguese colonialism
in Afri ca.
Th e Mozam biqu e L ibera t io n
F ron t, or Frelimo, has assumed
power in an in te rim government in
Mozambique, which is slated fo r
fu ll independence next June. A sim–
ila r switch to black government
seems inevi table in the Por tuguese
territory of Ango la.
How wili this independence a ffect
Southern Africa - the so-called
"white sou th " in particular? Frelimo
leaders have recently made public
promises that they will cut economic
links with white- ruled Sou th Africa
and Rhodesia the moment they take
power.
lt
is bel ieved , however, tha t
as far as South Africa is concerned ,
the economic effects of a Mozam–
bique boyco tt wou ld be margi na l.
Should F relimo cut the vita l rail–
road link to la nd locked Rhodesia,
however, the resultant economic iso-
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