Political Power In The Age Of Oil Chapter 4 Analysis

foreign policy in the Middle East and the oceans of crude oil that lie beneath the region's soil. Klare traces oil's impact on international affairs since World War II, revealing its influence on the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Carter doctrines. He shows how America's own wells are drying up as our demand increases; by 2010, the United States will need to import sixty percent of its oil. Since most of this supply will have to come from violently anti-American zones, our dependency is bound to lead to recurrent military involvement. "Ultimately, the cost of oil will be measured in blood: the blood of American soldiers who die in combat, the blood of the many other casualties of oil-related violence, including the victims of terrorism."

In this book, Yergin takes the reader on journey through oil history, from the first 1859 well drilling by Colonel Edwin in Pennsylvania up to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in a wrathful grab for oil and wealth in August of 1990. Yergin explores the role of oil in warfare, describes the changing organization of the oil sector, and examines

The U.S. should invest in alternatives to oil, and drill on the United States grounds because it will assist the economy, preserve energy and fix the world’s environmental problems. The supply and demand for oil is always on the rise, and problems are contemplated with the use for oil. Those problems are starting to catch up to the modern world, and something needs to change before the world enters a black out. Experts can predict that there is estimated to be somewhere around 61 years of oil left for us to use at our current rate. The demand for oil is always rising. People in today’s modern society rely so heavily on oil, that they would not know what to expect if it

The widest of empires the world has ever known (Bardi, 104-105, 2014). When coal production dropped, so did the British Empire. On the other hand, before coal production disappear, a competitor emerged, crude oil. This discovery of crude oil sparked more disaster (naval warfare), as nations were at each other’s throat. For example, the Second World War was fuel by oil resources, the war planes, submarines, ships, and automobile you can think of was driven by crude oil (Bardi, 2014). The same goes on today. It seems to be a generational

Josh Tickell producer and writer of a compelling discussion of how our world is depending on the production and use of oil. Tickells documentry "Fuel" shows a great insight to how guilty we are for the over use of this commodity. He explains through political power oil has been a catalyst for making the wealthy, wealthier. In trhe documenrty he depicts the devistation that the oil indusrty has created globally.

Accordingly oil played a significant role in the United States rise to power in the Middle East. Before the War ended President Roosevelt met with the King of Saudi Arabia where it was established the relationship between the two countries would be about oil. America’s power in the region was primarily directed through oil companies such as Aramco.

In the first half of the 20th century, culminating with World War II, the notion of energy security was closely tied to the supply of fuels for the military. When the British Navy switched from domestic coal to imported oil in the early 20th century, it became vulnerable to an enemy’s occupation of oil fields or attacks on transportation lines or refineries. The battles over oil fields in Indonesia, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Romania during World War II vividly highlighted the military importance of oil supplies .

Oil and other natural resources are an important source of wealth. States and their leaders are eager to get access to the highly-valued resources, perhaps gain control over them. However, lack of democracy in the oil-rich countries could be explained by the European colonization in the region,

The intervention by the United States and its allies over Kuwait in 1991 was in large part motivated by a need to secure oil and more importantly to prevent Saddam Hussein from expanding his access to it.

In the “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power,” Yergin undertakes the reader upon a thorough and enjoyable journey through oil history, from the first 1859 well drilling by Colonel Edwin in Pennsylvania during up to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in a wrathful grab for oil and wealth in 1990 August. Yergin explores the role of oil in warfare, depicts the ever-changing organization of the oil sector, and examines the prominent, as well as often flamboyant petroleum players. The book is a well-researched and well-written, and supplement to a history branch, which until very lately, had been regrettably neglected—history of business.

Because of the difficulty in trying to drill for oil in this undeveloped land, by 1914 BP was almost bankrupt again. The company had oil, but no one to sell to. Because of the insistence of Winston Churchill, the oil would be used by the British Navy, which stared the debate over the repercussions of involving politics in the oil industry. This debate has continued through present day wars (Thorne, p. 587 2014).

Oil has always been valued, but in the 21st century, oil has an economic significance. In today’s world, it is used to power so many thing such as a cars. It can also be found in different parts of the world. However an amount of worlds’ oil can be found in the Middle East; making it very desirable to the United States and the other world super powers. The Middle East not only has vast amounts of oil, but it is also has the shortest route to Europe, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Not only did the United States want oil or for its significant location but they also had interest in limiting the communist influence in the 20th century. Sixty-five percent of oil we use today in the United States is imported from countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iraq; keep in mind that not only does oil power houses and cars for the citizens of the United States, but it is also used to power things like jets and tanks for our military. In the 1930’s, Oil was found in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait but not until after World War II were Americans granted to explore parts of the Middle East for oil. By 1948, they hit the jackpot in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately for the United States, their relationship with Saudi Arabia was short lived due the U.S.’s alliance with Israel. The Israelis gained the West Bank, Gaza, and Syria’s Golan Heights with the help of the weapons provided by the United States. Keep in mind that the US supplied and supported the Israelis, and the Soviets supplied Egypt

It can be noted that energy resources such as oil plays a substantial role in shaping the globe. Reasons for why correlations between political violence in the Middle East and the geopolitics of oil can be connected is due to the Middle East being one of the most prominent locations in the world to refine oil along with the regions long history of political and economic turmoil. Examining the history of the Middle East throughout the years, it can be said that, both internally and externally Middle Eastern nations are heavily involved in oil related conflicts against one another or find themselves in conflicts with others, such as the U.S, over oil distribution and political direction to which issues open the region to foreign interference by third party entities who may use these discrepancies to pursue national interests. The contemporary phenomenon of terrorism within the region is both a product of historical development and political instability as these factors in recent time has led to a growing occurrence of terrorism that seeks to capitalize off the instability that state actors find themselves in. If we were to make an assessment of the growing modern-day reliance on oil, which has significantly increased globally and the on-going political instability occurring all around the Persian Gulf then, it should be known that, the conflicts to which these issues present are no where near close to being resolved. These existing issues will only further contribute to the

In this world, there are pointless wars going on for oil, money, and power. Pointless economic wars throughout the countries going on and for what? The government has been providing only a fraction of the free energy sources they possess to keep the oil field booming: and to make matters worse, corporate cities are watching as the president and foreign countries scam the U.S. citizens and continue to destroy the earth with harmful chemicals, while individuals continue to attempt to prove conspiracy after conspiracy for the reason that nobody is standing up to oil industries destroying our planet.

The United States has been involved in the affairs of the Middle East for decades and they’ve had various reasons for being there, whether it was to wage war or to prevent outside influence that would undermine their own influence in the region, it always seemed to revolve around one thing: oil. As we all know, oil is a very profitable resource and it’s a huge part of many nations’ economies and because this is the case many wars are fought over this black liquid. The U.S. is no different in that they did just about anything to maintain their access to Middle East oil. As a result, United States actions in the Middle East today has been formed through the decades long desire for their oil.