During the last few decades, the Middle East has been a tinderbox geopolitical. The political and economic instability of many countries, the attempts by Iran to gain nuclear weapons, the confrontation known as “Cold War Arab” between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the religious tensions between the branches of islam, and the still unresolved issue of palestine, make this region one of the most conflict in the world. If to this we add the presence of huge amounts of oil, the Middle East, it becomes in addition an area of vital strategic importance to the great powers of the world. The united States, Japan and Europe, look to these asian countries to ensure their energy supply with which to drive their large industries. In addition, the proximity of Russia to the region, and its traditional influence on the three countries of the area, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia complete the picture of the huge mess international that currently exists in the Middle East, with major powers such as the united States and Russia, actively participating in a game of power along with other powers intermediate such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. Before this board, the smaller States of the region are relegated to a secondary position, even at the time of deciding the destinies of their own countries. Nations such as Lebanon or Jordan, because of its size rather modest, and reduced economic capacities and military, to end up being pieces in a game much more in which are not allowed to participate. This is the case of Yemen, a nation that is torn apart by a civil war that pits the rebels Hutíes, to the north of this country, with the central government of the same. The Hutíes, whose territory lies along the southern border of Saudi Arabia, are supported by Iran, sharing religious beliefs with the regime shia Ayatollahs. Yemen occupies a strategic position vital in the Middle East For its part, the central government of this country is backed by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of other arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. This coalition has conducted air strikes, an intervention by land, as well as a naval blockade that has plunged the yemeni people in the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. The reason behind this clash, although with roots in ethnic differences, religious and historical between the north and the south of Yemen, has its main impulse in the clash of regional between Saudi Arabia and Iran, wanting this last nation to get the Hutíes to take over the yemeni government, to exert their influence over a country with a strategic position and is crucial in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the third largest producer, and the first oil exporter in the world. Graphic courtesy of BBC therefore, it is not surprising the last action taken in this war, with the conduct of an air attack with drones autopilotados, on facilities for oil in Saudi Arabia. This attack, although it caused no loss of human life, if it struck oil fields and one of the largest refineries in the arab country, crippling as a consequence the half of the production of the state oil company, Aramco. This represents a decrease in the production of 5.7 million barrels of oil a day, which is equivalent to 5% of the world’s oil production, which has forced the President, Donald Trump declared that he was willing to use the strategic reserves of your country, which reach 644.8 million barrels, to meet the market. At the same time, the Minister of Energy Arabia claimed that the cessation of production is temporary, and its business partners to have sufficient reserves to meet its consumption while balancing the need to restore the production. However, this was not enough to calm the markets, which saw a 20% increase in the price of a barrel of oil at the start of the day, decreasing shortly after the price until it stabilized at around 69 dollars, an increase of 14,70%. This is an increase pretty sharp, although still below the peak reached last October when the barrel came to the 86,29 dollars. The price of oil underwent a significant increase to the open market. Graphic courtesy of the BBC. While the united States accuse Iran of carrying out the attacks, the rebels Hutíes claim to the authorship of the same, promising more actions of this type in the future against Saudi Arabia and its allies. From CriptoTendencia we chose this as our Data of the Day, as it is the first time that the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the military sector can be seen so clearly. Today, the technology behind the drones is beyond the scope of any international actor, not only of the great powers, which opens the doors to small groups of insurgents or terrorists to cause damage billionaires, or low, civilian and military, much more easily. Therefore, and from now on, you must take into account variables ranging from drones autopilotados, as in this case, to cyber attacks that may affect the services civil and military of a country. Today, the fighting not only in the field of economic, political or military, but the cyberspace it has become, in its own right, in a field of combat. The following two tabs change content below. Student of International Studies, interested in issues of economy and international politics. Passionate about the progress of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in general and the cryptocurrencies in particular.
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