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To: doug who wrote (103474)	5/20/2001 9:49:56 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Doug, ME was for the last 1400 years a tinderbox who threaten the well being of Europe and more recently the whole western world. Military friction between Europe and Middle East rullers were almost countinuos during this period. Historically the ME was at cross roads between Europe and the Far East and Africa and as such controlled the trade between those continents. The Templars (Christians and a Crusader's order) were exterminated by a French King exactly for that reason they controlled to much of the trade and banking activities at the time. The pretense was on religious grounds. So nothing has changed today. Only that today democracy, technology, culture and social order are challenged. Best example are Algiers, Pakistan and Afghanistan were only indigenous elements are striving for modernization. Today ignoring what makes most people tick from Mauritania and Marocco to Afghanistan and Indonesia is pure ignorance. Most of the population there is poorly educated and live in poverty and many places the mentality is that of the Middle Ages and many live within their tribe boundaries and rules, something all but forgotten by the Western World. Most countries on the Saudi Arabia peninsula including Syria and Iraq, are ruled by family clans and not democratic electorate, which in many cases grabbed power by a very bloody struggle accompanied by mass assassinations. My point is that if we will ignore those facts and the microcosm those people live and act upon at a time that a substantial amount of energy resources are within those boundaries is plain foolishness. Personally I was amazed by the series on the Saudi Prince on CNBC and one needs to read between the lines and understand that the series was a well crafted public relation sting to advance his own interests. What worried me most was the repeated motive of acting upon "our culture" and a resistance of acceptance of western ways of doing business including the much appreciated charity work. It also seems to me that many skipped the issue of the sources of all this lavishness and riches and tried to explain them in simplistic ways of ingenious investing acumen. There is no question that he is a very smart guy ..... but there are certain limits to go from $30,000 to those riches in 15 years. In any case the first level in the approach to investing must be the cultural and social issues then industries and only after that fundamentals of a company. (Why invest in pork farms in a country who does not consume pork? Or in a beef processing plant in India ?) The most common mistake made by Americans again and again is the fact that they perceive that other people are fully integrated in their culture if they drink Coca Cola, drive cars, have high ways, watch CNN News and Hollywood movies and wear snickers. .......... and this can not be further from reality. That is why the US failed in Vietnam, Korea Peninsula, Kuwait / Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and can not sort out what to do in the Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia and the ME. Today the US must sustain it's leadership and open trade channels not buy propagating their own culture and social order, but by raw military power and military intervention all over the world. BWDIK Haim