|
OVERVIEW
Oil and Water - Egypt and Oman
This
program features two case studies that examine the interaction
between humans and natural resources: Egypt: Gift
of the Nile and Oman: Looking Beyond Oil.
A
growing population and a shrinking arable land base
is the dilemma presented in the first case study, Egypt:
Gift of the Nile. The continued sprawl of Cairo
is eating up some of Egypt's best Delta farmland. Simultaneously,
Egypt is developing so-called mega projects to further
reclaim the desert and maximize use of the Nile's waters.
Updates
to this case study include new maps and satellite imagery,
commentary by Dr. Dona Stewart, discussion of the Nile
Basin initiative, the shift from collective to commercial
agriculture, and Egypt's on-going mega-projects aimed
at creating an artificial Nile.
The
second case study, Oman: Looking Beyond Oil,
examines the country of Oman as it tries to diversify
its economy. Nomadic in nature until the discovery of
oil in the 1960s, the people of Oman have modernized
in the past thirty years. Fully eighty percent of the
Omani economy is now based on oil. To avoid over dependence
on one extractive commodity, Sultan Qaboos has enacted
a national plan called Omanization in order to provide
domestic worker training, develop new economic sectors,
and replace foreign guest workers. One component of
Omanization, and distinctive for an Islamic country,
is the education and employment of women.
Updates
to this program include commentary by Dr. Alasdair Drysdale
on the expanding role of women in Omani society, Oman's
desire to diversify into high-end tourism, and how Oman's
relative location to Dubai may affect its diversification
efforts.
Video
Key Words
Egypt
- Nile
River and its Delta
- Aswan
Dam
- Lake
Nasser
- Salinization
- Urban
Sprawl and Farmland Loss
- Environmental
Influence on Patterns of Human Settlement
- Human
Modification of the Environment
- Move
from Subsistence to Commercial Agriculture
Oman
- Economic
Diversification
- Omanization
Policy
- Emancipation
of Women
- Expatriate
Guest Worker
|
