Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Saudi-Iranian spat: Another skirmish in the oil war

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Saudi-Iranian spat: Another skirmish in the oil war

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from RT.

Referring to the Saudi's strategy of keeping oil prices low, Escobar writes:

From the House of Saud’s budget dilemma perspective, this is absolutely unsustainable. The House of Saud is the biggest OPEC oil exporter. Yet their supreme hubris is to deny Iran any leeway in exports, which will be inevitable especially in the second half of 2016. Moreover, the low oil price strategy doesn’t apply solely to Iran: it’s still part of the oil war against Russia.

Somebody though is not doing the math right in Riyadh.

You might also be interested in this post which reports that China is trying to preserve peace in the region with the current visit of Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming in Saudi Arabia.