Impact of

Geopolitics on
Middle Eastern
Trade
INTERNATIONAL TRADE LOGISTICS
Group 2
Arani Das 10A
Lekha Kamath 23A
Saman Nayyar 40A
Soham Gandhi 50A
Vishwadeep Mishra
55A

CONFLICT IN YEMEN

IRANIAN NUCLEAR
DEAL

Iraq Conflict and Rise of ISIS

The rise of jihadis inIraqandSyriais disrupting trade routes across

the Middle East and casting a shadow over economic prospects as
trucks queue at borders, food and energy prices increase and exports
falter.

The rapid advance of theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant known
as Isis, in Iraq is causing economic difficulties for Turkey and Jordan,
as well as in Iraq itself. It is also reversing a decade of growth intrade
across the broader region.

Because of fighting in Iraq, and neighbouring Syria, where Isis also

holds territory, many Turkish exports to the Gulf have been diverted
to roll-on roll-off ferries from the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun
and onward to Egypt or through the Suez Canal to Saudi Arabia. A few
also disembark at the Israeli port of Haifa to access the Jordanian
market, although this route gives only limited access to the Gulf,
where imports passing through Israel are banned.

About 1,700 trucks a day were passing through Habur, Turkeys main
crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan, last week but beyond the boundaries of
the KRG the country can be perilous: the Turkish foreign ministry and
the countrys chambers of commerce are working together to
evacuate Turkish executives and workers from areas of danger

Regionally, ISIS will disrupt and degrade the economy of several

states, and that in turn may lead to further political chaos -- which is
precisely ISIS's goal. And ripples from the stones ISIS is throwing at
the Middle East's economy may be felt around the world.

FINDINGS
Trade between Iraq, Syria and neighboring Middle Eastern
nations grew rapidly in the middle and late 2000s. But since
2011, violent protest, government crackdowns and civil war
have had repercussions on trade across the region
In 2000 exports were spread relatively evenly across the
region. Turkey and Syria each had a number of major trade
partners, while Iran and Iraq each relied heavily on a single
trade partner.
Between 2000 and 2012 trade within the region soared from
$4bn to $55.7bn. This growth was driven primarily by Turkey,
whose intra-regional exports increased from $1bn to $26.5bn.
By this point Syria relied heavily on Iraq for export revenues.
The onset of Syria's civil war had a major impact on regional
trading patterns. Total regional trade contracted by 13 per
cent between 2012 and 2013, and flows between Syria and
Iraq fell by 16 per cent.
From 2000 to 2002, trade between the seven territories in the
region Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the
Palestinian Territories averaged just $4.2bn annually,
according to the World Bank. From 2008 to 2010, that trade
soared to an annual average of $29.7bn.