Fighting in the Middle East & Israel

In the recently concluded hostilities in the Mideast, the actual fighting has been ended on the basis of a temporary cease fire between the two primary belligerantsthe United States and Iraq. A permanent cease fire is still (as of midMarch 1991) being negotiated between the two parties. The longerrange and broader peace process, however, will be required to deal with all of the issues which contributed to Iraq's decision to invade Kuwait, and to the American decision to intervene militarily in the situation. Many of the more significant of these underlying issues involve the state of Israel.

The state of Israel was not an active participant in the recent hostilities. The country, however, was a passive participant, in that it was subjected to Iraqi missile attacks. Israel, thus, has a legitimate interest in assuring that the peace negotiations will preserve its future security and the future safety of its population. As a nonmember of the Coalition Forces, and as only a passiv

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of Israel and the United States. Such justification is provided in the contexts of (1) energy security for the United States, (2) national security for the state of Israel, and (3) an end to the threat of terrorism for both the state of Israel and the United States. Energy Security for theUnited States Overall, the United States produces energy in an amount equivalent to 83.7 percent of its total energy consumption (Energy Information Administration, 1990). Aggregate measures, however, do not reflect the mismatch between the country's energy production mix, and the energy consumption mix required to support its economic and military needs. As a result of the mismatch between the energy production mix and the energy consumption mix in the United States, the country's net energy imports are far greater than the aggregate data indicate would be the case. Thus, rather than importing 16.3 percent of the energy it consumes, the country imports 21.9 percent of the energy it consumes, at a time when there exists no national emergency to cause an escalation in energy demand. An outbreak of hostilities between the United States and another country, however, could quickly result in a demand escalation. The energy production/consum
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Approximate Word count = 3614
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

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