OPEC's Swan Song?

Written by Sam Vaknin


Continued from page 1

Saudi Arabia regards itself asrepparttar market regulator. It keeps expensive, fully-developed, wells idle as a 1.9 million bpd buffer against supply disruptions. It is this "self-sacrificial" policy that endows it with tremendous clout inrepparttar 104964 energy markets. Onlyrepparttar 104965 United States can afford to emulate it - and even then,repparttar 104966 Saudi Kingdom still possessesrepparttar 104967 largest known reserves and sportsrepparttar 104968 lowest extraction costs worldwide.

OPEC is, therefore, not without muscle. Saudi Arabia had punished uppity producers, such as Nigeria, by floodingrepparttar 104969 markets and pulverizing prices. Yet,repparttar 104970 organization is riven by internecine squabbles about market shares and production ceilings. Giants and dwarves cohabit uneasily and collude to choreograph prices in what has long been a buyers' market. These inherent contradictions are detrimental. If OPEC fails to recruit another massive producer (namely: Russia) soon - it is doomed.

Paradoxically,repparttar 104971 Iraq war is exactly whatrepparttar 104972 doctor ordered. OPEC's only long-term hope lies in a geopolitical shift,repparttar 104973 harbingers of which are already visible. Russia may joinrepparttar 104974 cartel, disenchanted by an imperious and haughty USA - orrepparttar 104975 Europeans may "adopt" OPEC as a counterweight torepparttar 104976 sole "hyperpower" newfound energy preeminence.

America announced its intention to pull out its troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. As this major producer is thrust intorepparttar 104977 role ofrepparttar 104978 "bad guy" - it acquires incentives to team up with other "pariahs" such as France and, potentially, Russia. Controllingrepparttar 104979 oil taps is a sure way to renderrepparttar 104980 USA less unilateral and more accommodating.

US interest are diametrically opposed to those of oil producers, whether in OPEC's ranks or without. The United States seeks to secure an uninterrupted supply of cheap oil. Yet, a consistently low price level would go a long way towards reducing Russia back to erstwhile penury. It would also destabilize authoritarian and venal regimes throughoutrepparttar 104981 Middle East.

This unsettling realization is dawning now on minds from Paris to Riyadh and from St. Petersburg to Tehran. Asrepparttar 104982 United States looms large over both producers and consumers,repparttar 104983 ironic outcome ofrepparttar 104984 Iraqi war may well be an oil crunch rather than an oil glut.



Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com




Corruption and Transparency - Part I

Written by Sam Vaknin


Continued from page 1

The IMF made corruption an integral part of its country evaluation process. It suspended arrangements with endemically corrupt recipients of IMF financing. Since 1997, it has introduced policies regarding misreporting, abuse of IMF funds, monitoringrepparttar use of debt relief for poverty reduction, data dissemination, legal and judicial reform, fiscal and monetary transparency, and even internal governance (e.g., financial disclosure by staff members).

Yet, no one seems to agree on a universal definition of corruption. What amounts to venality in one culture (Sweden) is considered no more than hospitality, or an expression of gratitude, in another (France, or Italy). Corruption is discussed freely and forgivingly in one place - but concealed shamefully in another. Corruption, like other crimes, is probably seriously under-reported and under-penalized.

Moreover, bribing officials is oftenrepparttar 104963 unstated policy of multinationals, foreign investors, and expatriates. Many of them believe that it is inevitable if one is to expedite matters or secure a beneficial outcome. Rich world governments turn a blind eye, even where laws against such practices are extant and strict.

In his address torepparttar 104964 Inter-American Development Bank on March 14, President Bush promised to "reward nations that root out corruption" withinrepparttar 104965 framework ofrepparttar 104966 Millennium Challenge Account initiative. The USA has pioneered global anti-corruption campaigns and is a signatory torepparttar 104967 1996 IAS Inter-American Convention against Corruption,repparttar 104968 Council of Europe's Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, andrepparttar 104969 OECD's 1997 anti-bribery convention. The USA has had a comprehensive "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" since 1977.

The Act applies to all American firms, to all firms - including foreign ones - traded in an American stock exchange, and to bribery on American territory by foreign and American firms alike. It outlawsrepparttar 104970 payment of bribes to foreign officials, political parties, party officials, and political candidates in foreign countries. A similar law has now been adopted by Britain.

Yet, "The Economist" reports thatrepparttar 104971 American SEC has brought only three cases against listed companies until 1997. The US Department of Justice brought another 30 cases. Britain has persecuted successfully only one of its officials for overseas bribery since 1889. Inrepparttar 104972 Netherlands bribery is tax deductible. Transparency International now publishes a name and shame Bribery Payers Index to complement its 91-country strong Corruption Perceptions Index.

Many rich world corporations and wealthy individuals make use of off-shore havens or "special purpose entities" to launder money, make illicit payments, avoid or evade taxes, and conceal assets or liabilities. According to Swiss authorities, more than $40 billion are held by Russians in its banking system alone. The figure may be 5 to 10 times higher inrepparttar 104973 tax havens ofrepparttar 104974 United Kingdom.

In a survey it conducted last month of 82 companies in which it invests, "Friends, Ivory, and Sime" found that only a quarter had clear anti-corruption management and accountability systems in place.

Tellingly only 35 countries signedrepparttar 104975 1997 OECD "Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions" - including four non-OECD members: Chile, Argentina, Bulgaria, and Brazil. The convention has been in force since February 1999 and is only one of many OECD anti-corruption drives, among which are SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management in Central and Eastern European countries), ACN (Anti-Corruption Network for Transition Economies in Europe), and FATF (the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering).

Moreover, The moral authority of those who preach against corruption in poor countries -repparttar 104976 officials ofrepparttar 104977 IMF,repparttar 104978 World Bank,repparttar 104979 EU,repparttar 104980 OECD - is strained by their ostentatious lifestyle, conspicuous consumption, and "pragmatic" morality.



Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com




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