Explaining how the price of aggression is low enough that governments do not avoid conflicts, this book uses examples drawn from recent conflicts in the Persian Gulf to examine many dimensions of costs incurred by warfare and proposes a private sector solution to warfare's low cost.

Askari and Krichene provide a comprehensive background for recent international financial crises rapid expansion of interest-bearing debt and monetary expansion though the fractional reserve banking system. In this context, the authors provide an analysis of the experience and issues associated with international payments systems the various forms of the gold standard, the Bretton Woods system and the present system of flexible exchange rates. The authors go on to examine the case for fixed exchange rates (gold standard and other interesting variations) anchored in Islamic finance. The...

This book analyzes the origins of conflicts and wars in the Persian Gulf, assesses the common factor(s) that have been their essential fuel, determines their fallout for the political, economic, and human development of the region, and provides insight into how they may be better contained.

This book is an analysis of how oil has affected governance and human, political, and economic development in the countries of the Persian Gulf and shaped these countries' relations with the rest of the world.