Oil. Blessing or Curse?

Introduction

TIM SEBASTIAN

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and a very warm welcome to the Doha Debates sponsored by the Qatar Foundation. The world can't do without it; it's brought riches beyond belief, but also misery and war. Oil is the subject of our debate tonight, a topic that contains all the ingredients that fascinate and appal us: intrigue, corruption, greed, political infighting, economic muscle, and pure force. Where better then to discuss the subject than here in the Gulf, now raking in gigantic oil revenues from across the world. The motion before us is designed to address some of the most controversial aspects of oil. 'This House believes that oil has been more of a curse than a blessing for the Middle East.' Four speakers, as ever, to argue their case. In favour of the motion, Hossein Askari is the Iran Professor of International Business Affairs at George Washington University. He served as special advisor to the Minister of Finance in Saudi Arabia, and directed a team of experts in the 80's trying to design a long-term energy plan for the Saudi Government. Also for the motion, Dr. Carole Nakhle. Born in Lebanon, she advises the British parliament on energy issues and is a senior adviser to Middle East Consultants International. She is also co-authoring a book on Past Mistakes in World Energy Policy, so she has plenty of strong views on the subject. Against the motion, Nawaf Obaid. He's a national security and intelligence consultant based in Riyadh and an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in Washington. And with him, Ramzi Salman, an Iraqi by birth with more than half a century in the oil industry. I'm sure he won't mind me saying that. For six years, he served as Deputy Secretary General of OPEC, and since 1997 has been adviser to the Minister of Energy and Industry here in Qatar.Ladies and gentlemen, our panel. So let me first of all please call on Hossein Askari to speak for the motion.

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