The Middle East Crisis
With a virtual monopoly on petroleum, OPEC drove up oil prices which caused severe economic problems for the United States. Yet more turbulent conflicts existed in the Middle East: religious issues and territorial disputes inflamed tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
Multinational Corporations: In the modern era, where transportation allows rapid communication and exportation of products, corporations could span several nations. Many took advantage of inexpensive labor in one country and depreciated taxes in another.
Arab oil embargo: Furious at American intervention in the Middle Eastern conflicts, the Arab nations began to downsize the exportation of petroleum products to western nations. Consequently, the western world which relied heavily on petroleum was forced to seek other resources of fuel and energy.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): In the 1970s, Middle Eastern petroleum exporting countries formed a monopoly and agreed to raise the price of oil. As a result, the economy in the western world fell into inflation and unemployment; a nation-wide recession resulted which forced Jimmy Carter to seek new economic programs at the end of his term in office. However, he could only do little to dispel the effects of the rising prices of oil.
Palestinian Liberation Front, (PLO), Yasser Arafat: In June 1982, there was great violence in the Middle East when Israel invaded Lebanon to extinguish the Palestinian Liberation Front from its headquarters. The chaos and confusion escalated in Lebanon which was already plagued by its own Civil War.
