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0 pointsapi10y ago0 comments

I'm sure the fact that the Middle East sits on the world's largest deposits of cheap-to-extract high-EROEI and therefore maximally profitable oil has absolutely nothing to do with it. :)

The amount of oil in the ground in places like Canada might indeed rival the Middle East, but it's lower-EROEI more expensive oil. The amount of money in the ground is higher in the Middle East than anywhere else. Sub-Saharan Africa does have quite a bit of resource wealth but it doesn't have anywhere near as fat and juicy a prize as the ME does.

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mc3210y ago· 2 in thread

So how does that explain Yemen, or the troubles in the Philippines? Are they overflowing with rich resources? Contrast Mindanao with the rest of the PH.

apiOP10y ago

My impression is that at least some of those are satellite conflicts driven by propaganda and actual groups from the Middle East like ISIS. Control of the Middle East and its oil wealth seems like the overall objective behind the various proxy armies and constant "regime change" in the region.

I'm not sure why this is such a terribly controversial idea. You have trillions of dollars in assets sitting in the ground under a politically unstable region, so why is it so bizarre to suggest that people are fighting over it? There are people who will shoot you for your wallet, so what will they do for access to world-remaking levels of wealth?

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jdc10y ago

Not the only factor, but the Saudis have funneled a great deal of oil money into spreading Wahhabism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_propagation_of_c...

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