African Oil: A priority for U.S. National Security
On January 25, 2002 the Institute for Advanced Strategic & Political Studies (IASPS), a
Jerusalem-based think tank with an affiliated office in Washington, D.C., held a symposium in
Washington on the issue of African oil and U.S. national security priorities. IASPS? main focus is
"limited government." The symposium produced a working group that in turn produced a report which
says, in part, "The symposium created a consensus that if U.S energy policy more fully incorporated
African oil, the U.S. could further diversify its energy resources. Moreover, if oil revenue transparency
were encouraged, state revenues generated could provide economic development to African countries.
Out of this symposium grew a working group called the African Oil Policy Initiative Group (AOPIG).
This group comprised representatives from relevant offices in the Administration, the House of
Representatives, Senate, international consultants, and oil companies, and other U.S. investors.?
It is very doubtful that, at this very moment the republican administration is concerned about U.S.
national security, most of all the energy security because of the uncertainty of the Arab ?allies? loyalty,
Washington would suddenly become sensitive to African people?s economic and social rights it has
always ignored. First, the Bush administration has never shown any concern about environmental
tragedies provoked by American companies abroad, as he showed it by boycotting the last proposals
of global environmental treaties. Second, even the State Department's annual human rights country
reports do not explicitly cover economic and social rights and their necessary defense issues that
corporate environmental crimes raise. The West use to focus only on political and civil rights while
simply ignoring the economic and social rights that may harm its deified companies. Third, in Nigeria or
in the Middle East where they are present since decades the U.S. oil companies have never
demonstrated any particular concern for their victims? economic and social conditions. They would not
start to do it only in the Golf of Guinea oil rich area the U.S. administration currently targets.
The main reason why the (Jewish?) think tank?s recommendations may remain simple declarations of
intents with regard to providing economic development to African countries is because the issues the
U.S. corporations will need to solve are finding solutions to economic and social tragedies they are not
used to solve. The African governments would not find and implement those solutions either, because
very often they are ruling mafias that don?t care at all about any population?s economic and social
conditions. In addition, economic and social rights end up being socialist and communist principled
concerns that are paradoxical to the triumphant American capitalism.
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