Understanding how oil fueled the American century is fundamental to understanding the sources, dynamics, and consequences of U.S. global dominance. Essential to both military power and the functioning of modern society, oil fueled American power and prosperity during the twentieth century. The United States was the world’s leading oil producer for the first three-quarters of the century, and five of the seven great oil corporations that dominated the international oil industry from the 1920s to the 1970s were American companies. Control of oil bolstered U.S. military and economic might and enabled the United States and its allies to win both world wars and the Cold War. The U.S. government worked closely with the oil industry to gain and maintain control of overseas oil reserves, reflecting a symbiosis of national security interests and the interests of the oil companies. Maintaining access to oil became a key priority of U.S. foreign policy and involved the United States in regional and local conflicts in Latin America, the Middle East, and other oil-producing areas in ways that distorted development in many countries. Most of the major doctrines of postwar U.S. foreign policy—the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Carter Doctrines—related, either directly or indirectly, to the Middle East and its oil... It is not yet possible to determine the precise role oil played in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, but it is clear that concerns about oil were a factor. The September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States highlighted the costs of keeping U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf to ensure Western energy security and provided a political opening for the United States to move against Saddam Hussein. U.S. policy makers believed that regime change would end the Iraqi threat to Persian Gulf security and that opening Iraq to private investment would have several benefits. Iraq had huge underdeveloped oil reserves, and increasing Iraqi production would moderate prices and lessen U.S. dependence on Saudi Arabia. Opening Iraq could also have a demonstration effect on other state-owned oil companies and head off bilateral deals between Iraq and Russia, China, and France. At the least, these potential benefits of regime change may have prevented U.S. policy makers from reexamining their other motives... —David S. Painter, Oil and the American Century.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 05:38:36 +0000
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