The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.Whom did the U.S Support what Role did Essay

The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.Whom did the U.S Support what Role did They Play - Essay Example As a result, many of the people living along the channel were Arabs, not Persians. Sadaam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, claimed that this area should be a part of his country because of the historical connection to Iraq and the ethnic identity of the inhabitants. Iran saw right through this and accused Iraq of trying to control the shipping lanes. Iraq began to charge tolls on ships coming out of the channel, but the Iranian’s would not comply (Willett, 2004). Iraq invaded and tried to take over the land on either side of the river. This was one economic reason for the war. The second economic reason Iraq started the war was to try to get at Iran’s oil reserves. They realized that if they could control this much oil, they would become the most powerful and important Arab state along the Persian Gulf. They would be a rival to the powerful Saudi’s to their south and would be able to easily trade with Russia and India to the east. Iraq wanted to get their hands on Ir anian oil. This was the second economic reason for the war. One ideological reason the war started came from the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Iran is a country dominated by Shiite followers of Islam. In many countries, including Iraq, Shiites are considered to be second-class citizens. They only make-up about 10% of Muslims worldwide, so they are often a persecuted minority. In Iraq and Iran, Shiites are actually a majority. The Iraqi government suppressed the majority Shiites. The Islamic Revolution in Iran started to encourage Shiites in Iraq to rise-up against the government (Arjomand, 1989). This revolution said that it was up to Shiite believers to rise up and take power so Islam could be taken to all the world. The Iraqi’s did not like this, so they started to protest against the Iranians to the League of Arab States. Nothing was resolved. The ideology of Islamic Revolution was a major factor in the start of the Iran-Iraq War. Another ideological reason that led to the Iran-Iraq War was the capture of the islands of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tumb (Amirahmadi, 1996). Persian and Arab forces had disputed these islands for many years. The Iranians took them from the newly formed United Arab Emirates in 1971. Arabs in the Persian Gulf region regarded this as a modern version of Persian aggression. Iran had stated in the past their ideological desire to restore the borders of the old Persian Empire. Iraq started a war with Iran in response to this ideology. The United States had an important role in this conflict for both Iran and Iraq. Before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the leader of Iran bought lots of weapons such as tanks, artillery and fighter jets from the United States. During the revolution, American citizens were held hostage in the American embassy in Tehran. This event caused the United States to cut off all trade ties with the Iranians. The United States refused to supply the Iranians with machinery and replacement parts for t heir equipment during the war. As a result, the Iranian army was weakened until they could figure-out a way to buy weapons from other countries. They eventually turned to Russia for much of their weapons. The United States was more directly involved in supplying the Iranians with weapons (El, Azhary, 1984). Iraq had grown wealthy from oil revenue. They decided to spend lots of money on jets, tanks and bombers. The United Stat

Long-Term Investment Decisions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Long-Term Investment Decisions - Assignment Example The level of government intervention is high in an oligopolistic market environment and this situation would prevent potential mergers in the entertainment industry from absorbing smaller corporations. This paper will discuss whether government regulation is needed in this industry and analyze certain potential threats to the expansion of industry through capital projects. Significance of Government Regulation Based on a comprehensive analysis, it can be said that government regulation is essential in a market economy, particularly an oligopolistic market structure like entertainment industry. Achievement of social efficiency and equity are the major reasons for government involvement in a market economy. Social efficiency can be attained at a point where the marginal benefits of either production or consumption to society are equal to marginal costs of production or consumption. In addition, social equality is less likely to be promoted in a market environment where government inter vention is insignificant. As Hyman (2007, p. 67) points out, government involvement in a market economy is particularly vital to prevent the creation of monopoly power, which in turn will result in an output level below the socially efficient level. This practice is also necessary to provide the public with proper information and to enhance market certainty. Probably, lack of certainty would persuade people to produce or consume at a level less than they would choose otherwise. Free market environments seem to respond sluggishly to demand and supply fluctuations and this time lag in response can result in permanent disequilibrium state and cause instability problems. Timely government regulation in a market economy is also crucial to promote adequate provision of dependents and adequate output of merit goods. Evidently, tools like taxes and subsidies are specifically important to address market distortions effectively. To illustrate, imposing tax rates equal to marginal external cos ts and granting subsidy rates equal to marginal external benefits are some potential strategies to resolve externalities. In short, effective government regulation is inevitable to prevent the imposition of external costs and to enhance customer protection. Rationale for Government Intervention in US Currently, the entertainment industry’s long-term expansion plans through mergers are challenged by Federal government regulations. There are various reasons for the intervention of government in the market process in the US. As discussed already, today entertainment industry is an oligopolistic market, which is dominated by four main players. Evidently, the planned mergers would turn the entertainment industry into monopoly and this situation in turn would negatively affect the interests of the society. Under a monopolistic market structure, there is no market competition and therefore the ‘market ruler’ is free to charge any price regardless of consumer interests. In other words, customers do not have any option other than buying the products at the rates fixed by the company. In this situation, the organization may find it profitable to produce inferior or substandard goods because customers are compelled to purchase those items without a second thought. Hence, it can be claimed that creation of a monopolistic market structure would lead to consumer exploitation and this practice may cause customer dissatisfaction. Price discrimination is another negative impact of