ABSTRACT
Such an attempt to draw up a balance sheet is important for a number of reasons. In the first place, the gradual concentration of economic relations, transport networks and communications systems has meant that the world has become smaller, and in this context North Africa lies at the southern door of Europe. Secondly, the Mediterranean basin is becoming increasingly important in the general context of the rising tensions In international relations: such tensions include the so-called crisis in Afghanistan, which broke out, perhaps not entirely fortuitously. shortly after the fall of the Shah, the Americans' most 'reliable' ally, and the war between Iran and Iraq, which may well lead to a dangerous destabllisation of both regimes and which has already been responsible for a substantial check to Soviet influence in the area. An important consequence of the Iran/Iraq war has been the collapse of OPEC. but its impact has not been confined to the price of all and the revenues of the 011 producing states in the region. In the medium term it may well have serious implications for the international financial system, particularly if the Gulf states are no longer able to fund their ambitious development plans with current revenues from oil and are forced to withdraw their enormous deposits from Western banks.
