in affecting the stability of the international political economy. The South had never before felt as if they had the upper hand in North-South relations, and the momentum began to shift in favor of the South. This opened the stage for a North-South dialogue, a situation that had been previously unimaginable to the South.The unity of the Arab nations in achieving such a great success served as an example to many countries of the South. No individual Arab nation could have attained the results that OPEC did. OPEC proved that unity and strength in numbers was an efficient method to secure a desired outcome. Other countries in the South followed suit, forming groups such as the CPEC, which provided 70% of the worlds copper exports, and the IBA, which was founded in 1974 to promote the bauxite industry. Although these organizations did not prove quite as successful as OPEC, they did succeed in increasing local participation and prices. However, resources such as bauxite and copper had substitutes, whereas oil is a very necessary and important resource in the world economy. Nevertheless, the developing countries learned that the ideals of unity and cooperation were necessary to promote the expansion and advancement of their economies. Despite the fact that not every developing country has a vital resource such as oil, the countries of the South acquired essential knowledge and experience as a result of OPEC.Opponents of this argument may say that the South suffered great economic problems as a result of OPECs price increases. In response, one must note the fact that developing countries of the South do not, in general, import large amounts of oil. To the contrary, industrialized countries of the North are far more dependent on oil and are more susceptible to the effects of price increases. Hence, the South was not greatly injured by the energy crisis. In addition to the fact that the South only utilizes a small amount of oil, t...
