Crisis prompts Japan to cut heavy reliance on Middle East oil
ARTICLE!
Regarding the issue of Japan’s need to reduce its heavy reliance on oil from Middle East, since the Middle East Crisis, I feel that it is another concern of a country being overly dependent on another. In this case, Tokyo relies 90% of its oil imports from Middle East.
I feel that is too much as we all know very well that the political stability in the Middle East is often in an unrest situation, foreign investors-in any case- would probably source for another alternative country to invest on.
Same goes for the provision of natural resources, a country would have to consider the many factors- especially political stability- before signing a long term agreement if they would want everything between the 2 countries to be smooth sailing. These are probably common things like tourism, trade, ties and connection etc.
Today the Middle East is characterized by strong internal political tensions like the issue of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the issue of rights to water resources, as well as Syrian presence in Lebanon, border disagreements between Syria and Turkey over the Hatay Province, between Egypt and Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle, between Saudi Arabia and Yemen over the geography of Saudi Arabia, the civil rights of religious minorities in Iraq and Bahrain and the security of Christians in Egypt. All these are important conflicts that contributes to the divided country.
There are also substantial tensions between the Middle East and external regions, especially with the West, the issues arising from the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear program of Iran, the US involvement in the Somalian civil war, and the allegations of state-sponsored terrorism on the part of several Middle Eastern nations are all specific examples of issues that the Middle East has, resulting in the risk to venture in or even rely on the country.
Now in the case of provision of any natural resources, it is sad to say that it is unfair to many other countries if a country itself is on a land that has unlimited resources. For example De beers has been allegedly accused of misusing it’s dominance in the market to control supply to manupulate prices via monopolistic practices.
To prevent being controlled by a dominant supplier, one country must step out to prove her own independence probably find solutions to lower its dependence, either sourcing for another alternative supplier or generating its resources herself like Singapore-Malaysia water issue. One country must not depend solely on another as the latter will take advantage of the situation to exploit to their own benefits. Therefore, a country must be able to maintain its wellbeing by understanding the ties between one another so that it does not get used or use others for their own benefits.
I feel that is too much as we all know very well that the political stability in the Middle East is often in an unrest situation, foreign investors-in any case- would probably source for another alternative country to invest on.
Same goes for the provision of natural resources, a country would have to consider the many factors- especially political stability- before signing a long term agreement if they would want everything between the 2 countries to be smooth sailing. These are probably common things like tourism, trade, ties and connection etc.
Today the Middle East is characterized by strong internal political tensions like the issue of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the issue of rights to water resources, as well as Syrian presence in Lebanon, border disagreements between Syria and Turkey over the Hatay Province, between Egypt and Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle, between Saudi Arabia and Yemen over the geography of Saudi Arabia, the civil rights of religious minorities in Iraq and Bahrain and the security of Christians in Egypt. All these are important conflicts that contributes to the divided country.
There are also substantial tensions between the Middle East and external regions, especially with the West, the issues arising from the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear program of Iran, the US involvement in the Somalian civil war, and the allegations of state-sponsored terrorism on the part of several Middle Eastern nations are all specific examples of issues that the Middle East has, resulting in the risk to venture in or even rely on the country.
Now in the case of provision of any natural resources, it is sad to say that it is unfair to many other countries if a country itself is on a land that has unlimited resources. For example De beers has been allegedly accused of misusing it’s dominance in the market to control supply to manupulate prices via monopolistic practices.
To prevent being controlled by a dominant supplier, one country must step out to prove her own independence probably find solutions to lower its dependence, either sourcing for another alternative supplier or generating its resources herself like Singapore-Malaysia water issue. One country must not depend solely on another as the latter will take advantage of the situation to exploit to their own benefits. Therefore, a country must be able to maintain its wellbeing by understanding the ties between one another so that it does not get used or use others for their own benefits.
500 words.
Sorry for being so so late.
posted by Louisboy @ 10:28 pm
7 comments
7 Comments:
It is in times of crisis that the strengths and weaknesses of a country surface. Such a time would be the best where one will be able to see a country in action, and how it reacts to situations like these. Furthermore, the government’s readiness to tackle such problems will most definitely be scrutinized by other countries, and as such, they have the task of making difficult decisions. In this case, Japan is would be an example.
Given the impact of the Middle-East crisis in the region, Japan is being forced to source for other reliable energy suppliers and not just depend heavily on the now volatile region for oil. The strife and constant fightings going on in the area could spell unwanted troubles for Japan if it were to continue to rely heavily on the region. If the supply of oil is cut off, Japan would lose one of its most important resources, and this will result in unwanted panic for the government when they try to find a solution only after the supply is cut. This kind of a move would reflect badly on the government, as this shows that they are not efficient in having already found backup resources to turn to when something like this should happen. It is during such a time of crisis that the best option for a country would be to turn for help from its neighbours.
This is where the importance of having and maintaining good relations with neighbouring countries comes into play. In the case of Japan, it is highly unfortunate that it is surrounded by such violence owing to the Middle-East crisis. As such, tensions are bound to be fraught between countries, and values like trust and confidence in one another will become significantly difficult to maintain. Like what Louis mentioned, “a country must be able to maintain its wellbeing by understanding the ties between one another so that it does not get used or use others for their own benefits.” Japan should therefore take this into consideration into making sure that while it seeks help from its neighbours, it should not give way for the latter to become dominant, as this will result in one country being slowly controlled by another, which will only result in more tensions being built up.
Thus, a country should be smart in being able to make use of its own resources as far as possible instead of quickly resorting to the easy way out. This also brings to question the ideas that the government could have thought of beforehand and attempting to work on those to prevent relying on others as much as possible. In the times of today, where most resources are being consumed as though there is no tomorrow, people should learn to conserve what they can, as much as they can. The governments should bring in measures to aid in encouraging conservation and also bring about the awareness of the depleting resources in our world.
With regards to the issue of Japan depending on the Middle East for its oil supply, I do agree with Louis that a country should not be too dependent on another country. Instead, it should source out for more alternatives so as to sustain the country’s economy should anything undesirable happen to one of its means that drive the economy. In this case, Japan should source out for other alternatives to oil for energy and must not rely very heavily on the oil supplied by the Middle East. Japan should consider the risks of relying very heavily on a single party to supply its energy source. Other alternatives for energy sources would include solar energy and wind energy.
Also, I agree with Prakash that having good relations is very important for the country’s own well-being. After all, if a country has good relations with many other countries and maintain their good relations, the country will be able to invest in different resources present in the different countries. Diplomatic ties are important too so that when a country is on good terms with another country, there is no tension between them. Hence, countries would more readily help one another in times of need or crisis.
In this article, it is evident regarding the importance of oil supply. I feel that one should not take it for granted as it is a natural resource that will deplete in time to come due to us humans exploiting its usage. What if one day, the supply of oil inevitably depletes and we can no longer convert energy from oil? Imagine living in a world that depends largely on oil to run the country but one day we wake up without electricity. Petrol comes from oil. Petrol runs engines of vehicles. Imagine living in a world without transport all because the oil supply has depleted. Hence, each and every one of us must do our part to conserve the use natural resources such as oil, so as to slow down the depletion of oil and to sustain the world longer.
I feel that this article does not only let a government reflect upon their country's reliance on oil supply from other countries, but also other important resources like water, and whether they're taking a correct step in the percentage of trust given to the country, on faithfully providing them with resources.
Especially for a country like Singapore, we don't have any natural resources(not even our own sand), we depend largely on other countries for resources.
It is essential that a government like ours watch the rate of dependence we hold on a certain country for a partiular resource. It is obviously not wise of a country to rely on another country so much to an extent that once the other party stop sending resources over to them, the whole country suffer into a state of depression due to lack of electricity, food, or even petrol for vehicles to move.
If that happens, it is very easy for another country to intervene and takeover the country, because the people are helpless and the government will not be able to seek for help that fast unless they have good relations with their neighbouring countries.
For this situation, Japan's location on the globe isn't very ideal and therefore it will lead Japan to a terrible situation if they continue to depend largely externally for oil supply.
Therefore, I suggest that countries like Singapore, which doesn't have much resources of their own, to have good relations with their neighbouring countries in cases of emergencies, and not to be fully dependent on one country alone for resources in case something bad arises, which will create tension within the country, which might lead to further conflicts.
hmmmmm, indeed, the crisis in the middle east is going to raise prices, but hey (warning, digressing ahead), i feel that, a rise in price of oil prices (like what, 0.30 - 0.75 cents) is nothing when compared to the rising death toll in lebanon. i mean, c'mon, people are dying out there and all we think of is rising oil prices, ain't it a little selfish? *shrugs* being practical perhaps? i dunno. ANYWAYS, let's go back to japan.
alas, yes, with so much unrest, it would be wise for any country to not depend so heavily on the middle east for oil. if japan were to heavily depend on the middle east for oil, it would be in for a roller coaster ride. but then again, if not the middle east, where else? i agree with khai, yeah, it ain't good for a country to depend on another, it'd be ultra dependent on the other country, what if the other country has turmoil or turns naughty? where then would the resources come from then? i feel that each country should try it's best to look for it's own source of natural resources.
but then again, look at singapore, such a small country, no space to collect own water. we depend on malaysia for water. call it being dependent, i dunno, bo bian one.
let's talk about the environment! instead of oil, can there be any other alternatives? like solar power or wind power, or whatnot. using oil would be using natural resources, which are difficult to replace. save the planet, the world is dying.
Oil has become such a major necessity to countries all over the world that it is sometimes the cause for conflicts. It is not surprising that Japan and many other countries are heavily reliant on the Middle East countries for oil because it is where the oil is located at.
However, I would like to disagree with Sadiq. He mentioned that America is consuming oil at a much higher rate as compared to China despite the immense difference in terms of population size. Yes, China is a huge country and should by right consume much more oil than many other countries. But the point here is that America is a developed country and requires oil for various purposes such as manufacturing. As a country progresses and develops, the demand for oil will most definitely increase because of their industrialisation and the higher standards of living. Hence while it may be fair to say that a certain amount of oil used by the US could be wasted, I'm pretty sure China will also increase its demand for oil as it progresses and develops.
The Middle-East crisis has certainly been one of the main reasons why the oil prices are on an upward trend. Now that it is getting more expensive and tensions are building every day, it will definitely cause many countries who rely on the Middle East for oil to look somewhere else. Indeed it is times like this where good relations are vital.
Countries have to forge good relations with others to ensure their own country's survival and safety. Besides having good relations with other countries so that Japan can get oil from them, I feel that Japan also has to be careful with its relations to the Middle East, in this case Iran. Who knows what may happen in future and you may once again require resources from them?
I think that Prakash and Chi Weng are right in saying that countries should really start taking conservation seriously. It is not only oil that needs to be conserved but other resources as well like water. These things we take for granted that we are not aware the rate of which they are being depleted. Countries around the world should seriously consider looking into other forms of obtaining energy such as those mentioned by Chi Weng. It is not only enviromentally friendly, it is also saves alot of money in the long run.
Lastly, this article has once again reiterated how fragile and vulnerable Singapore is, not only in terms of our lack of resources. We are also at risk of being affected by other countries having poor relationships with them. Should the Middle-east crisis escalate and more countries become involved, somehow Singapore would also be implicated whther politically or economically. Thus, World Peace. HAHA
Well, I think the point made here is that we cannot rely totally on other country for natural resources or resources as a whole. I agree to this totally. In the case of the article, Japan could not fully rely on Iran for oil due to the Middle East crisis.
With so much trouble in a land, investors would not want to place their hard earned money in stake and invest in the country. Moreover, there is an unavoidable risk of the supply of oil being cut off by any of the problems that could occur. This would cause serious problems for Japan who depended on the supply from Middle East with a high percentage of 90%. With such a great reliance, many or I can assumingly say that the oil supply in Japan would be in disaster if the increasing demand of oil cannot be met with sufficient supply and this would therefore results in a shortage of oil.
Besides, the standard of living in Japan is high. Though being Singaporeans who always complain about the high standard of living in our homeland, Japan has also a pretty high standard of living, as we can feel so when we do visit the country. Therefore, if there is a shortage of oil and the prices of oil increases, then, the monetary values that both the government and consumers have to be burden by, would be heavy.
Therefore, a country must not be on total reliance of others. They should immediately take actions to look out for countries that are much safer for investment and reliance. Just like Singapore’s defense forces, we can buy all our ammunitions and equipments from other countries but we still have to rely on ourselves as a whole to protect our country. Therefore, Japan has to find new ways to develop their products by other alternatives to oil so as to minimal the impact caused by the break in supply of oil.
Please, let us not be like Japan. We should not wait for a crisis to happen before we realise the negative impact of our recklessness in using natural resources. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.
Louis highlighted in his first paragraph that we should not be overly dependent on other countries. We would need to maintain good relationships with others so that they will continue helping us. However, when conflict arises, our allies may abandon us and cut off our supply of resources. We need to be prepared in terms of saving such resources for future use, especially in times of dire needs.
As what Prakash said, the government will have a hard time to decide the actions that are needed to carry out in response to the crisis. That is why in paceful times, we should not let our guard down. Also, we should be consistent in ensuring that everything is planned out accordingly to any type of crisis that may arise. Back-up plans are helpful as the government can spend lesser time thinking and brainstorming for ideas to solve the crisis which saves time decision making and actions can be carried out swiftly and smoothly as much as possible.
It may be costly initially to come up with energy saving systems initially but in the long run, it will be worth it as more oil can be saved, which may lead to a decrease in price in the future, and in this case, Japan, can reduce its dependendence on Middle East for oil.
I hope that this article opens up our eyes a little bit wider and make us see that we should try to be an environmentalist, even on a small scale, so that we will continue to strive for better ways to let Singapore conserve as much resources as possible since we are Singapore's greatest resource.
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