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A''fluiet"Hot Spot?
lranians and most westerners call it the Persian Gull. Arabs
prefer
the term
11
Arabian Gull." Yet if
present
trends
con–
tinue,
we may all someday be calling it the
"Russian Gulf/'
Potential Soviet involvement in the strategic Gulf orea could
significantly
affect
the world balance
of
power.
by
Harry Eisenberg
F
EW AMERICANS realize where the
Persian Gulf is, much less the sig–
nificance of this vital piece of real
estate to their own economy.
For, under the waters and lands of
the Persian Gulf lies a vast sea of the
"black gold" which in 1970 supplied
28 percent of all the oil used in the
world, and furthermore holds a
pbenomenal 62 percent of all the
world's proveo petroleum reserves.
A Matter of Economics
While very little Middle Eastern oil
actually finds its way to the United
States, U. S. firms nonetheless own sorne
70 percent of the concession in the Gulf
area. This pumps a hefty 1.2 to 1.6 bil–
lion dollars into the American economy
and balance of payments each year. Fur–
thermore, Middle Eastern states use oil
revenues to buy sorne $500 million
worth of American products annually.
Considering the present state of the
American economy, this is especially
significant.
The ten states bordering on the Gulf
produce sorne 12 million barreis a day,
providing about half of Western
Europe's oil needs, and 90 to 95 percent
of Japan's. British petroleum interests
in the arca net a tidy $500 million an–
nual profits.
The Soviet Threat
The oil is, of course, carried across
the sea by a huge armada of tankers and
super tankers, and it is here that
So–
viet naval power comes in. For, in the
event of confrontation or confiict, the
oil lifeline could be at the absolute
merey of the dominant naval power in
the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Apart from submarines, the Soviets
have sorne twenty modera warships al–
ready stationed in the lndian Ocean as
compared with two older viotage U. S.
destroyers and a sea plane tender. And
the Russians are planning for more to
come.
But Soviet expansionism does not
stop with the sea. On land the Russians
continue to attempt to win friends and
influence important people. And the
British, by voluntarily withdrawing
from the Persian Gulf, are making the
Soviets' task all the more easy.
The Persian Gulf region contains
a number of Arab sheikhdoms which
in the last century became British
protectorates. That is, their rulers
signed treaties granting the British
certain economic and military privileges
in exchange for a defense and aid guar–
antee. The treaty signers induded the
island nation of Bahrein, peninsular
Qatar and the seven sheikhdoms of the
Trucial Coast. (Name comes from a
19th Century anti-piracy truce nego–
tiated by the British.)
Both Bahrein and the Trucial state of
Dubai have modest oil incomes. Far
richer are Qatar and the Jargest (in
area) Trucial sheikhdom, Abu Dhabi.
In
fact, its huge oil production and
small population give Abu Dhabi the
distinction of having the world's high–
est per capita income, sorne $6,000
annually.
Further north in the Gulf region is
the wealthy sheikhdom of Kuwait
whose per capita income is now second
behind Abu Dhabi. This one-time Brit–
ish protectorate has been fully indepen–
dent since 1961.
In the North and West are found the