Business can take many forms. In the true sense of the word nations of the world are the
largest businesses that exist on our planet. These economies interact with one another on a
global scale with the shift of political power coinciding often times with economic power.
Sometimes one product that the entire world economy relies on can affect political strength
simply through prices fluctuations. In recent years, the world economy has seen crude oil
soar to astronomical highs, but its recent descent into unbelievable lows has created an
environment that has positive and negative side effects in nations that rely on oil to fuel
their economies. In Russia, Iran, and Venezuela the economies are in crisis, yet the US is
about to join these nations in the oil market exporting crude for the first time in over 40
years allowing the US economy to finally emerge from a recession and stagnant economic
growth. It is Saudi Arabia, though, that holds the wild card in crude prices by controlling
the flow of oil onto the world market.
Bloomberg News reports that the US seems the most likely beneficiary of low crude prices
while Russia is the biggest loser as lower prices destabilize its ever fragile economy. Putin
himself has described the drop of oil as being potentially ‘catastrophic’ as Russia is the
world’s largest energy exporter. All OPEC nations also seem to be threatened by this save
Saudi Arabia with their billions in cash reserve. Bloomberg News also reports Russia’s
crisis is so severe that Putin assured investors in the mostly state owned oil company,
Rosneft, that the government will prop up the oil company financially to keep it from
failing. Under sanctions keeping them out of global capital markets, a Standard & Poor
analyst sees a ‘very likelihood of extraordinary state support’. As the economy in Russia
continues to falter, it will look for outside income sources from other nations not currently
imposing sanctions on it-Iran is one such nation. The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov.
11 that Russia signed a nuclear reactor deal with Iran to build two new reactor units
possibly followed by six more. Nuclear fuel produced in Russia in planned to be shipped
to Iran for processing for use in the reactors. This in itself is a very scary alliance between
two outcast nations with seemingly oppressive regimes.
Russia is also aligning itself with China for economic reasons, too. China is the world’s
