DOCSLIB.ORG

Professional Training Lifelong Learning Professional Training: Lifelong Learning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Professional Training Lifelong Learning Professional Training: Lifelong Learning PROFESSIONAL TRAINING Lifelong Learning PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: LIFELONG LEARNING Total demonstrates its active As part of its educational program, the Group helps commitment to promoting employees gain recognition for their talent, no matter human development by what their skills sets. It does this by financing more than giving professionals in 50 professional training programs, from the high school its host countries the to professional master’s level. These programs, which opportunity to advance are tailored to each host country’s needs and organized outside the educational in partnership with local players, allow participants system. to obtain recognized diplomas and professional certification. A VARIETY OF APPROACHES • I n Angola, Congo, Gabon, Morocco, • I n Qatar: financing of an Executive MBA Myanmar, Nigeria, Venezuela and for young professionals. other countries: training for operators • Worldwide: training for local engineers alongside academic courses. and technicians in partnership with IFP • I n Niger: commitment with trucking Training, as well as on-the-job training companies to improve road safety. that alternates classroom learning with on-site internships. “ EVERYONE CAN ADVANCE! ” to make sure that these companies have the necessary skills in-house to meet the requirements of a leading-edge industry like ours. Everyone who works (or will 3 questions for… work) with Total and, in particular, with its LUC SPOSITO, contractors, must be familiar with the latest Education Director techniques, which might not have been taught when they were in school. > Why does Total invest in training When necessary, we help set up and professionals in its host countries? support a wide range of training programs Because we believe that training doesn’t aligned with the host community’s situation end when you leave high school or and local needs. university. On the contrary, learning is a lifelong pursuit. Training is for everyone, > How do you get involved in starting including people who were unable to these programs and keeping them further their formal education. going? We start by carefully analyzing needs > Is this commitment also a way with our local partners. We then submit a of expressing your corporate proposal to the local authorities. Once they social responsibility to your host greenlight the project, the subsidiary puts communities? it into action. The Education Department It certainly is! Our host countries expect plays a supporting role as soon as its us to do our part in developing and assistance is needed, which can be at any energizing their local economies. This point in the process. We need to be able means hiring locally and, more broadly, to step in at any time, as well as step back entering into subcontracting agreements and hand the project over to the subsidiary, with local companies. We therefore need which knows the country and its needs. AFRICA: FROM MAINTENANCE TO SERVICE STATION MANAGEMENT Group subsidiaries deploy training programs aligned with local needs across Africa. > Since 2003, the professional program, which was initiated with support specialization center (CSP) in Port-Gentil, from IFP Training. At the end of their year- Gabon has trained individuals with long program, the participants receive an secondary-level technical certification official diploma that is recognized by major or technological degrees by organizing industrial groups. four 38-week programs, of which eight weeks on the job. The goal is to give > In Nigeria, a Petroleum Engineering young people under 25 the opportunity to and Project Development Master’s acquire specialized skills in maintenance, Program was launched in 2002. Each year industrial mechanics, piping and welding, since then, some 20 interns have attended instrumentation and industrial electrical the program, which is organized jointly maintenance. The CSP is the result of a by the University of Port Harcourt, IFPEN partnership between Total Gabon and the (French Institute of Petroleum) and Total Gabonese Ministry of Mines, Energy, Oil Nigeria. and Hydraulic Resources. > Across Africa, for the past 50 years, > In Ozangué, Gabon, the oil and gas the “young managers” training program training institute has offered a program has allowed top employees from the Total to prepare participants for production service station network to become service operator jobs since 2010. Each year, some station managers. Today, more than 1,500 15 high school graduates with scientific service stations are managed by program or technical degrees benefit from this participants. SOUTH AMERICA: NURTURING ALL TALENTS In Venezuela, professional training clearly focuses on developing talent, particularly in technologies related to extra-heavy oil. Three of the four programs deployed > The second, which is open to some cover techniques suited to the production 20 technician operators provides, each year, and refining of extra-heavy oil, which is an opportunity to gain additional skills. a specific feature of the Orinoco Belt. The curriculum includes courses on Supported and financed by Total, the the specific techniques used in the oil, courses and their content are defined chemicals and petrochemicals industries in close cooperation with Petroleos for installation maintenance, settings de Venezuela SA and Corporacion and pipe maintenance. Venezolana de Petroleo. > The third is organized to train and certify > The first, which is designed for the instructors who train extra-heavy oil engineers, leads to an International production site operators. Master’s Degree in Producing, Enhancing and Refining Extra-Heavy Oil. > The fourth, which is targeted to The program is offered in partnership with electrical installation technicians and IFPEN. Each graduating class is made up instructors, provides training in the latest of around 20 students. technologies to enhance participants’ knowledge of electrical, electronic and electromechanical equipment. The end- goal is to ensure optimal operation. CENTRAL ASIA: A BROAD-baseD PARTNERSHIP IN WELDING One defective weld on a pipeline can put the safety of our operations in jeopardy. It is therefore crucial for the employees of the local companies that work for us to have training in leading-edge techniques. For this reason the Group initiates or In June 2012, the French Welding supports welding training programs Institute signed a cooperation around the world. agreement with Karaganda State One example is a program launched in Technical University. Kazakhstan in 2013. In 2009, Total made At the same time, KSTU also signed a commitment to the national authorities a partnership agreement with Total to help Kazakhstan become a member Exploration Production Kazakhstan to of the International Institute of Welding develop the international training and (IIW). Thanks to this initiative, the country research programs for Kazakhstan’s became the IIW’s 55th member in July national welding plan. As part of this 2011, represented by Karaganda State agreement, Total promised to help set Technical University. up a specialized Master’s Program in Inspired by these developments, local welding. The first 23 students began their welders decided to create the Kazakhstan classes on April 8, 2013. Association of Welding, which, among other things, conducts training programs and issues international certificates to training centers and international diplomas to apprentices. PERSIAN GULF: GIVING EARLY SCHOOL LEAVERS A PROFESSION AND A FUTURE In January 2011, the 12 students of the Total Academy of Abu Dhabi’s first graduating class received their oil operator certification—the equivalent of a professional high school diploma. Thanks to the 28-month intensive program, and Chemistry) and two semesters of the participants are operational and ready theoretical classwork on oil extraction to be hired by Total ABK or another oil technologies, the students alternate company. between classroom study and practical This ambitious program stemmed from experience on a platform until the end of a commitment by Abu Dhabi National the program. This allows them to discover Oil Company (ADNOC) to bring more the world of offshore production and get local people into its partners’ workforces. a hands-on view of daily life on site. To meet this request, Total ABK joined To enhance the program’s professional forces with the Vocational Education focus, a Total ABK offshore coordinator Development Center (VEDC), a national liaises between the platform teams and organization that works with early school the Academy. The program is often held leavers. The partners signed an agreement up as an example by other UAE national in 2008, paving the way for the creation of oil companies and may inspire similar the Total Academy. initiatives in other countries in the region. One of the specific features of this training program is that it gives students wide exposure to different aspects of the company. After four months of general remedial courses (English, Math, Physics www.total.com Registered inNanterre: 542051180RCS 5,941,838,402.50Share capital: euros Tel: +33(0)147444546 92400 Courbevoie–France 2, placeJeanMillier–LaDéfense 6 Headquarters: TOTAL S.A. [email protected] contact uswith Hauteur Largeur Hauteur Largeur : : 15 mm : : 57mm 100mm 26mm Among ourpartners… SG / DRH / FEU / EDU I September 2013 I Design: T2BH / Paris – tel +33 (0)1 44 64 84 20 – © photos: Total, Institut de Soudure..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Exclusion and Citizenship in the Arab Gulf States
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal College of Arts and Sciences 5-15-2017 Crystallizing a Discourse of "Khalijiness": Exclusion and Citizenship in the Arab Gulf States Khaled A. Abdulkarim University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/curej Part of the Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Abdulkarim, Khaled A., "Crystallizing a Discourse of "Khalijiness": Exclusion and Citizenship in the Arab Gulf States" 15 May 2017. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/211. A senior thesis submitted to the Huntsman Program in Business and International Studies, the University of Pennsylvania, in partial fulfillment of the program degree requirements. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/211 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Crystallizing a Discourse of "Khalijiness": Exclusion and Citizenship in the Arab Gulf States Abstract For many of the Arab Gulf countries, non-national populations constitute the majority of the population, with the discrepancy between the size of the national and non-national populations continuing to grow. It is in this context that the role played by these non-national populations becomes critically important. In my paper, I argue that exclusion of non-national populations from state-sponsored national identities, as manifest through citizenship rights, plays a pivotal role in fostering imagined national identities and communities among the local Arab Gulf citizens. The study considers two cases in particular: the bidoon (stateless) of Kuwait and middle-class Indian migrants in Dubai.
    [Show full text]
  • Equinor Makes It Work Globally with Synergi
    SAFER, SMARTER, GREENER © xxx Equinor © Statoil - Hald Pettersen © Statoil DIGITAL SOLUTIONS – SYNERGI™ LIFE EQUINOR MAKES IT WORK GLOBALLY WITH SYNERGI Customer story – Equinor Operating in some 40 countries, Norwegian oil company Equinor has ambitious goals for further worldwide growth. Synergi Life is the group’s risk management system wherever it goes, regardless of geography and language. Equinor has always had an international orientation, but the department for analysis, monitoring and support in the group’s character of its operations has been changing. Much respected International Exploration & Production business area, and Synergi for its deepwater drilling expertise, the group has primarily been Life is part of his everyday life. a partner to other operators when it is outside the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). “We have no exceptions in Equinor – everyone uses Synergi Life in every country,” Mr Martinsen explains. “If they don’t have PCs, Over the last few years, however, it has been acquiring operator- we must accept that they need to use paper forms. And if they ships in various countries, including the US Gulf of Mexico, Brazil can’t read and write, we’ll have to solve that as well.” and Canada. The overall quality, health, safety and environmental (QHSE) strategy thereby becomes Equinor’s responsibility and “That’s because a key criterion for success in the HSE area is a allows it to explore some new challenges. country manager who’s dedicated to HSE work and who realizes the importance of good quality reports,” he says. “One particular “We’ve been a big Synergi Life user since the beginning, and enthusiast in Iran has now been nominated for our internal HSE we get a lot of good output,” says Arne M.
    [Show full text]
  • World Oil Prices: Market Expectations, the House of Saud, and the Transient Effect of Supply Disruptions
    World Oil Prices: Market Expectations, the House of Saud, and the Transient Effect of Supply Disruptions By Benjamin Zycher June 2016 KEY POINTS • The common argument that the sharp decline in oil prices during 2014–15 inevitably will lead to another steep increase is largely unsupported by the data on current and futures prices. • The House of Saud may perceive an increased need to buy internal political support, and even a rising threat of overthrow from opponents internal or external, which would increase incentives for lower prices and increased output in the near term. • The recent moderate upturn in prices is consistent with the data showing increases in supply disruptions, but both economic analysis and the historical evidence suggest that the price effects of important supply disrup- tions tend to dissipate quickly. everal observers have argued that the recent sharp of spot prices and rates of return to arbitrage activities Sdecline in oil prices is unlikely to last, largely does not support that conclusion. because pricing strategy by Saudi Arabia can be Observed Saudi production and pricing strategy is described as “dynamic profit maximization” designed consistent with a different hypothesis: the House of to drive overseas competitors out of business in the Saud’s increased fears of internal and external threats short run, and to erode investment in new competitive to its rule, and an increased possibility of some sort of production capacity over the longer term. Punishment overthrow. In addition, the more recent partial recov- of overseas competitors unquestionably is a component ery of international oil prices is consistent with an of Saudi strategy, but the ensuing conclusion that sharp observed increase in global supply disruptions, so that price increases are to be expected does not follow.
    [Show full text]
  • The US Response to Attacks on Persian Gulf Oil Infrastructure and Strategic Implications for Petro-States
    ISSUE BRIEF 10.29.19 The US Response to Attacks on Persian Gulf Oil Infrastructure and Strategic Implications for Petro-States Jim Krane, Ph.D., Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies Mark Finley, Fellow in Energy and Global Oil On Sept. 14, 2019, Saudi Aramco’s enormous oil tanker and its crew for two months. In oil processing plant at Abqaiq was hit in a October, Iran’s national tanker company surprise cruise missile and drone attack. reported an attack on an Iranian oil tanker Further strikes damaged facilities at the in the Red Sea.3 Khurais oil field 150 miles away. The attacks None of these disruptions had more on some of the world’s most vital pieces of than a short-lived effect on global oil prices. energy infrastructure initially knocked out Iran appears to have played a direct or 5.7 million barrels per day (Mb/d) of Saudi indirect role in the May/June tanker and oil production and 0.7 Mb/d of natural gas Saudi attacks. But the Trump administration liquids production, the largest ever outage has not, as yet, followed the guidelines in in volume terms in the modern history of oil. the 1980 Carter Doctrine, which states that Oil prices immediately jumped from $60 to Washington would use military force—if $69 per barrel. necessary—to protect its interests in the Gulf. Just over two weeks later, the sense of The US president suggested at one point urgency was gone. Saudi Aramco had fully that ultimate responsibility in dealing with restored the lost production, even as repairs the attacks rested with Saudi Arabia.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabian-Iranian Basin)
    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Assessment of conventionally recoverable petroleum resources of Persian Gulf basin and Zagros Fold Belt (Arabian-Iranian basin) by Charles D. Masters Open-File Report 81-986 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature. 1981 Assessment of conventionally recoverable petroleum resources of Persian Gulf basin and Zagros Fold Belt (Arabian-Iranian Basin) by Charles D. Masters PREFACE The following preliminary report is a product of the World Energy Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The program is designed to prepare geologically based resource assessments of the potential petroleum basins of the world. Initial investigations of the program focus on the major petroleum-producing regions of the world with the objective of acquiring a critical, unbiased perspective on the resource potential of a field, a basin, and ultimately a country as a whole. In selected areas, follow-on studies to analyze production potential are conducted by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) petroleum engineers, and the combined results are incorporated in a report for the Foreign Energy Supply Assessment Program (FESAP) of the DOE and the USGS. This USGS Open-File Report includes only the preliminary assessment and some minimal backup data and comments relative to the assessment. INTRODUCTION The location of the Arabian-Iranian basin is shown in figure 1. Uncondi­ tional estimates by the USGS of oil and gas resources in this basin are given in table 1 and figures 2 and 3. Data supporting these estimates are supplied in table 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Iranian Naval Provocations
    NatSec Brief - August 2021 JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy Iranian Naval Provocations Blaise Misztal - Vice President for Policy Charles B. Perkins - Director for U.S.-Israel Security Policy Jonathan Ruhe - Director of Foreign Policy Ari Cicurel - Senior Policy Analyst An Iranian suicide drone attack near Oman against the Israeli-operated MT Mercer Street killed two crewmembers on July 29, marking the most significant escalation in Tehran’s aggression at sea since 2019. The attack is an alarming convergence of two dangerous trends in Iran’s aggressive activities: its maritime harassment and increasing use of drones. This year, Iran and its proxies are increasingly using drones to strike U.S. service members, partners, and interests in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, with limited U.S. response to date. Now, Tehran is signaling its willingness and ability to apply the lessons it has learned about drones—including its relative impunity—to its maritime aggression. Shortly after the Mercer Street attack, reports indicate that Iranian hijackers took control of the MV Asphalt Princess, a Panama-flagged tanker, in the Gulf of Oman on August 3. To deter future Iranian naval and drone aggression, the United States needs a forceful, persistent, and integrated response, alongside its partners, that disrupts Tehran’s ability to mount such attacks and instills fear of future U.S. reactions. Otherwise, Iran is likely to only escalate its attacks, as it did in 2019. What Happened? • The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, and Romania have alleged that multiple Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked the MT Mercer Street near Oman on July 29, killing the Romanian captain and one British crew member.
    [Show full text]
  • Iranian Coral Reefs Status with Particular Reference to Kish Island, Persian Gulf
    International Coral Reef Initiative Indian Ocean Regional Workshop, Muzambique, Nov. 26-28, 2001 IRANIAN CORAL REEFS STATUS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO KISH ISLAND, PERSIAN GULF 1 2 SEYED MOHAMMAD REZA FATEMI , MOHAMMAD REZA SHOKRI 1Dept. of Fisheries and Marine Biology, Science and Research Unit, Islamic Azad University, Hesarak, PO BOX: 14155-5655, Tehran, IRAN. Email: <[email protected]> 2Iranian National Center for Oceanography, #51, Bozorgmehr Ave., I4168, PO BOX: 14155- 4781, Tehran, IRAN. Email: <[email protected]> Abstract In this paper, the coral status of Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf are reviewed and discussed based on the obtained results and information after three years of field surveys in Nay Band Bay, Kish and Farur islands. Altogether, 27 species of corals were identified from the studied areas, belonging to 9 families and 20 genera. Faviidae with 6 genera and 8 species is the most diverse of all families. On the other hand, Poritidae with 2 genera and 4 species is the most abundant corals in all areas. In the last 10 years, Acropora has declined from being the most abundant genus in shallow waters of fringing islands, to almost absennt, due to environmental stresses and human impacts. Anacropora forbesi is reported for the first time from the area. Regarding the coral health, the live coral coverage ranges from 9 to 30%, with minimum coverage in Kish Island and maximum in Nay Band Bay. During this study, no new bleached coral was observed at the surveyed areas, though in the past few years, considerable bleaching events have occurred throughout the area.
    [Show full text]
  • INTELLIGENCE NOTE February 18, 1971 OPEC OIL: PERSIAN GULF
    INTELLIGENCE NOTE February 18, 1971 OPEC OIL: PERSIAN GULF ANCHORED, MEDITERRANEAN NEXT The international oil companies signed a new oil tax and price agreement with OPEC's(*) six Persian Gulf members in Tehran February 14 and take on OPEC's Mediterranean wing next week at dates not yet known. The Gulf agreement is for five years but some oilmen doubt that it will last that long. According to preliminary reports, it gives Gulf governments an immediate revenue increase of almost 30 per cent for crude oil exported from Gulf terminals, with further increases through 1975. Major customers affected are Western Europe, which obtains about 40 per cent of its oil from Gulf terminals, and Japan, which imports almost 90 per cent of its oil from the Gulf. The companies have stated that the full increase must be passed to consumers, some of whom do not agree. The Gulf agreement climaxed six weeks of sporadic bargaining and ultimatums since publication in late December of OPEC Resolution (*) Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela XXI/120. This contained demands for a minimum OPEC oil tax rate of 55 per cent and negotiation within 30 days of higher posted prices, the price on which taxes are based regardless of actual market prices, which normally are lower than tax prices. The companies countered with a demand for a five-year, OPEC-wide agreement but OPEC successfully insisted on a regional approach beginning with the Persian Gulf. Because of its distance from the markets, the Gulf has less bargaining power than other OPEC areas but the prevailing tight oil market has enhanced Gulf leverage, too.
    [Show full text]
  • Seizing Opportunities
    Seizing opportunities Annual report and accounts 2003 Finland Norway Sweden Estonia Denmark Latvia UK Russia Ireland Lithuania Belgium Poland France Germany Kazakhstan Austria Georgia Italy USA Azerbaijan Portugal Turkey Algeria Iran China Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi Mexico Venezuela Nigeria Singapore Angola Brazil Statoil is represented in 28 countries. Head office is in Stavanger. The Borealis petrochemicals group has production facilities in 11 countries and its head office is in Copenhagen. Borealis is owned 50 per cent by Statoil. Statoil 2003 Statoil is an integrated oil and gas company with substantial international activities. Represented in 28 countries, the group had 19 326 employees at the end of 2003. Nearly 40 per cent of these employees work outside Norway. Statoil is the leading producer on the Norwegian continental shelf and is operator for 20 oil and gas fields. The group’s international production is enjoying strong growth, and Statoil is a leading retailer of petrol and oil products in Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland and the Baltic states. One of the major suppliers of natural gas to the European market, Statoil is also one of the world’s biggest sellers of crude oil. As one of the world’s largest operators for offshore oil and gas activities, Statoil has been used to tackling major challenges with regard to safety and the environment from the very start. Today, we are one of the world’s most environmentally-efficient producers and transporters of oil and gas. Our goal is to generate good financial results for our shareholders through a sound and proactive business performance. It is our ambition to achieve good results across three bottom lines – financial, environmental and social – which strengthen each other in the long term and contribute to building a robust company.
    [Show full text]
  • Maritime Boundary Delimitations in the Persian Gulf Prof
    Maritime Boundary Delimitations in the Persian Gulf Prof. Dr. Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh * Professor of Political Geography and Geopolitics, Islamic Azad University of Tehran – South, Tehran, Iran. Prof. Dr. Bahador Zarei ** Professor of Political Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Abstract The region of the Persian Gulf can be seen as a geopolitical arena in which the Arab-Iranian relations are shaped. As one of world’s primary and most significant source of fossil-energy exports, the International Studies Journal (ISJ) / No.54 / (ISJ) Studies / Journal No.54 International Persian Gulf cobbles together Iran and the seven Arab countries of the region in a geopolitical cradle in which they enjoy similarities in economic and strategic life, as well as security concerns. Accordingly, the challenges of maritime political geography seem to be quite dependent on an established set of standards and agreements in order to remain on solid grounds. Currently, these challenges manifest themselves in four major categories, with substantial geopolitical consequences between the Iranians and the Arabs of the region, and the complexity of their relationships. These include: Religious Controversies, which concern the sectarian geopolitics; propagates under Jordan-Israeli concoction of “Shiite Crescent”;and Territorial IV Contentions with theirmajor controversy over the naming of the Persian Gulf. This article examines the process of territorial conflicts, proceedings, and eventually the settlements over the maritime areas of the Persian Gulf in the past five decades. The arrangement of the maritime political geography in the Persian Gulf is a fitting example of former disputes over the border and boundaries within the maritime regions of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Iran Once Again Captures Western Sailors in the Persian Gulf by Farzin Nadimi
    MENU Policy Analysis / Policy Alert Iran Once Again Captures Western Sailors in the Persian Gulf by Farzin Nadimi Jan 14, 2016 Also available in Arabic ABOUT THE AUTHORS Farzin Nadimi Farzin Nadimi, an associate fellow with The Washington Institute, is a Washington-based analyst specializing in the security and defense affairs of Iran and the Persian Gulf region. Brief Analysis Washington and Tehran must act now to prevent further escalation between their respective naval forces. n the afternoon of January 12, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) patrol vessels seized ten U.S. Navy O riverine squadron personnel near Iran's Farsi Island in the northern Persian Gulf. Iran claimed the U.S. vessels had strayed into Iranian waters. For its part, Iran enforces a twelve-mile buffer around the islands, a limit generally observed but not officially recognized by the U.S. Navy. The sailors were traveling in two forty-nine-foot CB-90 shallow-water command craft armed with light machine guns. Reportedly on a training mission en route from Kuwait to Bahrain, the base of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, the sailors were taken to the island for interrogation and then released relatively quickly, along with their equipment, after intense diplomatic activity. Despite the sailors' release, the IRGC symbolism was inescapable. The small Farsi Island, meanwhile, has been an important IRGC base, situated amid prominent Gulf shipping lanes, ever since the mid-1980s, when IRGC gunboats used it to stage attacks against international shipping. On July 24, 1987, while sailing thirteen miles west of Farsi, the U.S.-reflagged Kuwaiti tanker SS Bridgeton hit a sea mine planted by the IRGC Navy's second district, the same outfit that captured the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Geopolitics of FDI: Can Weak States Deter Hegemons Using Foreign Investment?
    Working Paper in THE ROLE OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN RESOURCE-RICH REGIONS The Geopolitics of FDI: Can Weak States Deter Hegemons Using Foreign Investment? Jim Krane, Ph.D. Wallace S Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies, Center for Energy Studies, Rice University's Baker Institute February 2020 © 2020 Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the authors and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Wherever feasible, papers are reviewed by outside experts before they are released. However, the research and views expressed in this paper are those of the individual researcher(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Baker Institute. Jim Krane “The Geopolitics of FDI: Can Weak States Deter Hegemons Using Foreign Investment?” The Geopolitics of FDI: Can Weak States Deter Hegemons Using Foreign Investment? Introduction Weak states have two well-known strategies for securing themselves from hegemonic countries, according to the international relations literature. The first is the “balancing” strategy of aligning with others against the threatening state. If balancing is unavailable, weak states turn to “bandwagoning,” or aligning with and conceding some level of influence to the threatening power.1 There are variations of these two overarching strategies. One variation of balancing that appears little explored is the deliberate use by weak states of foreign direct investment to balance against a regional hegemon, an indirect path to an improved security environment. Scholarly examinations into the nexus of foreign direct investment (FDI) and US security involvement in host countries tend to take two directions.
    [Show full text]