The Demise in Demascus in relation to gas prices...

I'm very proud of this paper as it was my final in International Business class...

ABSTRACT

            Performing business in a foreign country implicates the political and military climate of that country in order to conduct transactions and foresee economic interventions due to these revolutionary hindrances.  Prior to this course, the simple task of filling up at the gas station was only perceived as a means to make a way to my employer, attend a leisure activity or other travel destination.  Once prices began to fluctuate, my premise of interest has changed with a necessity to take interest in what is going on in the world around me, specifically in those countries where we rely upon resources as a country in order to enjoy the luxury of motor vehicle transportation.

            Since the spring of 2011, the country of Syria has encountered a reality that many westerners will never physically know only through the detection of written and visual media.  A region is being held captive by a dictator who refuses to step down and whose rebels refuse to give up in removing him from his reign.  Current President Bashar al-Assad is heir to the reign of Hafez al-Assad and the topic of discussion as this fight for justice and liberty proceeds in surrounding areas near Damascus.  The unmethodical rampage is causing more than a halt in traveling abroad the countryside in Syria and Damascus, and countless lives are being lost in the name of a falling regime and at the expense of a resource that the whole global world sets anxiously by, alarmed at what is happening to the people of this troubled nation.

            Oil reserves is the topic in question both economically and financially yet the bigger picture is how the political, military and technological tactics of one area can create dysfunction and symbolic disorder of separate proportions elsewhere in the world.  However, what may never be resolved in this account is what makes a leader feel that he has earned the honor and permission of his people and the rights of his government to stay and rule with so much already sacrificed and lost?

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            Currently, “political issues affect territories available for exploration and production…limits access…and government control…to natural resources” where “more than one-third of the world’s oil and gas comes from the Middle East and North Africa” (Ball, Geringer, McNett, Minor p 134).  Other notable facts are that oil consumption is “in the peak production time” according to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (Ball, Geringer, McNett, Minor p 134).  Predictions made by the U.S. Energy Information Administration “projects…energy consumption will continue to increase through 2035” and recognized “to remain the world’s dominant energy source…with reductions seen after 2020” (Ball, Geringer, McNett, Minor p 134).  Keeping this in mind, the following real-life scenario in Syria is consistently on going in the paragraphs following.

            On Thursday February 21, “at least three car bombs exploded in Damascus…near the downtown headquarters of President Bashar al-Assad’s governing party” (The New York Times Middle East).  And nearby residents are feeling the unrest where attacks are random, killing civilians of all ages and groups such as the SANA news agency, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces are reporting the travesties of these unaccounted for terrorist attacks.

            Syria has been in the spotlight as a nation under siege at a series of levels since “the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti” in March 2011 (The New York Times World) and where initial “attacks appeared calculated to turn peaceful protests violent, to justify an escalation of force” (The New York Times World).  From the series of most recent media events however, it appears that the inherited dictatorship will be overthrown in the near future and with this ‘decapitation’ nearing a close, the country hasn’t even begun its healing process (The Economist).  Back in November of 2012, it was predicated that in the upcoming year 2013 “that the rebellion against President Bashar Assad will be defeated…but more likely that Mr. Assad and his family…since his late father Hafez consolidated his dictatorship in 1970, will be overthrown” (The Economist). 

            Syrian captors have discovered a more public system of networking that supporters are spreading the word against the government in Damascus with a price not many would imagine returning from.  Taymour Karim, a 31-year old doctor was captured and terrorized to give up information about his involvement in the Syrian rebellion.  “My computer was arrested before me” he stated where information was remotely captured from his personal computer, Skype chat information, and passwords as “the struggle for the future of the country has unfolded…on a battleground of Facebook pages and You Tube accounts (Bloomberg Businessweek Technology).  Dangerously enough, “the hacktivist group Anonymous has infiltrated at least 12 Syrian government websites…and released millions of stolen e-mails” (Bloomberg Businessweek Technology).

            So, who else is abetting the Assad regime?  Supporters such as Russia and China may be culprits as well as “three [vetoed] UN Security Council resolutions aimed at isolating” the residing Syrian president by Moscow and Beijing (Council on Foreign Relations).

            In December of this past year, reports of increasing destruction into Lebanon and Turkey, “NATO has approved the shipment of Patriot missiles…to help it protect its border” which in turn may lead to the retaliation of chemical weapons deployed by Bashar al-Assad’s in an “attempt to hold on to power” (The New Yorker).  “A jihadist element will try to win influence…and the Free Syrian Army…will probably fail to produce a leader or structure that can be an authority-in-waiting” (The Economist).  Probably, what is most feared were the questionable scenarios that existed while hoping “Mr. Assad’s missile defenses would have to be put out of action in order to keep such a [no-fly] zone safe (The Economist).   “President Obama warned Assad publicly not to use his country’s chemical weapons…” stating in the offence of such a misdeed, “there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable.” (The New Yorker).  The opposing groups are a combination of the previously “highly fractured both politically and militarily” Syrian opposition movement formulated later into “an umbrella group known as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces” (Council on Foreign Relations).  Recognition and support of the new forces has brought attention to Britain, France, Turkey, and some Gulf Arab states.   The Free Syrian Army “is dominated by Islamists…formed by a group of army defectors intent on waging violent insurgency to depose Assad” (Council on Foreign Relations).     

            Leading into the new year, in January, nearly two years since the debased conflicts began in deteriorating the President’s government and popularity diminishing, 60,000 killed and residents fleeing Syria’s borders, al-Assad publicly addresses the nation and has no plans of ending the bloodshed by stepping down (Huffington Post).   Consumers and government leaders could only wonder when some type of intervention would be arranged; “Saudi Arabia and Egypt have both called on Assad to step down” (Huffington Post).  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that stepping down by President Assad is not an option “and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise” (Huffington Post).  At this point, “more than half a million Syrians have fled violence…in neighboring countries” and sectarian conflicts have unsurfaced “with predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels fighting the ruling regime…” (Huffington Post).

            Desperate measures for peace and resolution in this crisis, more presumably is the necessity of transitional phases for a resounding closure that “the al-Assad government is ‘approaching collapse’” (CNN) and a conclusion to the endless predictions and talks of either side’s cessation of power.  A much anticipated fall of the regime would pose “a host of complications for the shattered country…the need to quickly assemble a functioning government…provide humanitarian assistance…and to address the status of the chemical weapons…” (CNN). 

            “I think now it’s only a question of time,” stated NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Belgium.  Even more troubling is an expression made by the opposition group that, “We all know that the battle is not going to be easy…the regime will defend its existence by the most brutal means [and] will spare no resources in destroying any hold it may have before its collapse” (CNN).

            Syria, through the U.S. has been issued a series of sanctions denying prohibitive aid and bilateral trade with policy provisions including (Consumer of Foreign Relations):

·      State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation (1979)

·      Syria Accountability Act (2004)

·      USA PATRIOT Act

·      Executive Orders 13572, 13573 and 13582 from the Bush and Obama administrations

            More in common, are additional sanctions placed on Syria by the European Union (EU) with measures including (Consumer of Foreign Relations):

·      Asset freezes, travel bans on top Syrian military, government and Assad and his family

·      Arms embargo establishment

·      Syrian bank sanction

·      Bans on the import of Syrian oil/Export of petro industry equipment

            In conclusion, there is a penalty for the price of operating outside of the embargo placed on Syria during this test of the demise of Damascus.  Syria’s economy depends on the oil industry and Western bans on this commodity “have exacted a heavy toll…” where “restrictions had cost the country approximately $4 billion…” and “prior to the March 2011 unrest…obtained some $7-8 million per-day in oil export revenue, mostly from Europe” (Consumer of Foreign Relations).  But in globalization, where there is resistance, there may also be assistance.  “Friendly nations including Russia, Iraq, and Iran” have subsidized their ally nation but in opposition, “the League of Arab States and the European Union” have placed the stymie of averted economical progress through their sanctions the most.   Trade restrictions can sometimes lead to a change to modify a nation’s behaviors but “they also tend to produce collateral economic damage in the nations applying them” (Ball, Geringer, McNett, Minor p 165).  Hence, I must return to work on Monday paying a numbingly usual $4.35 a gallon while the world attempts to figure out its woes but at least, with my fervent attention. 

Works Cited:

The New York Times World. World.  (Feb 2013) Syria-Uprising and Civil War http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/syria/index.html (accessed February 1, 13)

Smiley, Xan. The Economist. Middle East and Africa. Syria’s agony. It will be worse before it gets better. (Nov 2012) http://www.economist.com/news/21566341-it-will-be-worse-it-gets-better-syrias-agony (accessed February 1, 13)

Anderson, Jon L. The New Yorker. The Syrian Sarin Threat. (Dec 2012)  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/is-syrias-assad-going-to-use-his-chemical-weapons.html (accessed February 1, 13)

Pearson, Michael, Abedine, S. CNN. Sytian regime approaching collapse, NATO Chief says. (Dec 2012) http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 (accessed February 1, 13)

Surk, Barbara. The Huffington Post. Syria Crisis: Bashar Assad Reported To Give Speech Sunday (Jan 2013) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/05/syria-crisis-bashar-assad_n_2416250.html (accessed February 1, 13)

Ball, D.A., Geringer, J.M, Minor, M.S. & McNett, J.M. (2013). International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Barnard, Anne, Gladstone, R. The New York Times World. Middle East. Car Bomb in Damascus Kills Dozens, Opposition Says.   (Feb 2013) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/world/middleeast/car-bomb-in-damascus-kills-dozens-opposition-says.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (accessed February 22, 13)

Faris, Stephan. Bloomberg Businessweek Technology. The Hackers of Damascus (Nov 2012). http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-15/the-hackers-of-damascus (accessed February 24, 13)

Masters, Jonathan. Council on Foreigh Relations. Syria’s Crisis and the Global Response. http://www.cfr.org/syria/syrias-crisis-global-response/p28402 (accessed February 24, 13)