Oil Politics and US Imperialism 1

8/3/2019 Oil Politics and US Imperialism 1

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Oil Politics and US Imperialism

The U.S. game plan, since the oil shock of 1973, has been to control the oil market by keeping the focus on the

West Asian region. Jimmy Carter, in 1980, as President of the United States ,declared the Persian Gulf anexclusive zone of American influence and created a Rapid Deployment Force, which later became the U.S.

Central Command, or CENTCOM.

Oil imperialism rests on our continued dependence on oil, which not only threatens the future of humanity

through prolonged and bloody conflict, but through another even more insidious threat--climate change andecological collapse.Oil is not only an indicator of the international economys direction, it also sets the stage fo

political alliances, military posturing and lives and deaths of millions as countries rush to secure energy suppliein the ruthless, zero-sum game of nations. Being the largest energy consumer, in addition to boasting the

worlds biggest military, the US naturally takes the lead in deciding the future, be it through negotiations,sanctions, or outright war. Critics of oil imperialism theories suggest that because the United States is the third

largest oil producer, and that it has historically been the leading oil producer in the world, the United Stateswould be unlikely to predicate its foreign policy on the acquisition of oil with such an undue focus. They point

out that, relative to its consumption rate, oil is not an expensive commodity in the market The U.S. invasion ofIraq to loot its oil and politically restructure the Middle East, is part of a policy of militaristic imperialism that

the American and British ruling circles have been engaged in for several centuries.

The Oil policy of the United States is determined by federal, state and local public entities in the United States,which address issues of Oil production, distribution, and consumption. Oil policy may include legislation,

international treaties, subsidies and incentives to investment, guidelines for Oil conservation, taxation and otherpublic policy techniques. Oil is the worlds most important traded commodity and its significance will only

increase as developing nations, from China to Brazil, demand more energy. The move to higher prices will hava profound impact on the global economy, acting as a tax in consuming countries, depressing growth worldwid

and pushing inflation higher.

Oil politics have been an increasingly important aspect of diplomacy since the rise of the petroleum industry in

the Middle East in the early 20th century. Every president since Richard Nixon has asserted that we are running

out of oil. Meaning: We are sitting ducks for those who brandish the oil weapon. To keep the evildoers at bay,the government must adopt policies that ensure our energy independence. Both George W. Bush and hischallenger John Kerry worship at this altar. In the century-and-a-half since Edwin L. Drake drilled the first oil

well, the history of the oil industry has been a story of vast swings between periods of overproduction, whenlow prices and profits led oil producers to devise ways to restrict output and raise prices, and periods when oil

supplies appeared to be on the brink of exhaustion, stimulating a global search for new supplies. This cycle maynow be approaching an end. It appears that world oil supplies may truly be reaching their natural limits. In the

years to come, the search for new sources of oil will be transformed into a quest for entirely new sources ofenergy.

The following are some factors that affect the prices of oil:

1. These prices are affected by supply and demand because, at present, oil trades in a global commoditymarket where increased demand or reduced supply in one place instantly translates into price shiftseverywhere.

2. Even if there were significant sources of high quality oil remaining, it is getting increasingly difficultand expensive to drill. These factors, along with aging infrastructure for oil exploration and a retiring

workforce are also contributing to high oil prices.3. Again, oil traders are fearful that the supply will not remain stable forever.

Up until the 1910s, the United States produced between 60 and 70 percent of the world's oil supply. As feargrew that American oil reserves were dangerously depleted, the search for oil turned worldwide. Oil was

discovered in Mexico at the beginning of the twentieth century, in Iran in 1908, in Venezuela during World Wa


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I, and in Iraq in 1927. Many of the new oil discoveries occurred in areas dominated by Britain and the

Netherlands: in the Dutch East Indies, Iran, and British mandates in the Middle East. By 1919, Britaincontrolled 50 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.

After World War I, a bitter struggle for control of world oil reserves erupted. The British, Dutch, and Frenchexcluded American companies from purchasing oil fields in territories under their control. Congress retaliated

in 1920 by adopting the Mineral Leasing Act, which denied access to American oil reserves to any foreign

country that restricted American access to its reserves. The dispute was ultimately resolved during the 1920swhen American oil companies were finally allowed to drill in the British Middle East and the Dutch East Indie

The fear that American oil reserves were nearly exhausted ended abruptly in 1924, with the discovery of

enormous new oil fields in Texas, Oklahoma, and California. These discoveries, along with production fromnew fields in Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Venezuela, combined to drastically depress oil prices. By 1931,

with crude oil selling for 10 cents a barrel, domestic oil producers demanded restrictions on production in orderto raise prices. Texas and Oklahoma passed state laws and stationed militia units at oil fields to prevent drillers

from exceeding production quotas. Despite these measures, prices continued to fall.

In a final bid to solve the problem of overproduction, the federal government stepped in. Under the National

Recovery Administration, the federal government imposed production restraints, import restrictions, and priceregulations. After the Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional, the federal government imposed atariff on foreign oil.

During World War II, the oil surpluses of the 1930s quickly disappeared. Six billion of the seven billion barrelsof petroleum used by the allies during the war came from the United States. Public officials again began to

worry that the United States was running out of oil.

It seemed imperative that the United States secure access to foreign oil reserves. Increasingly, policy makers

and the oil industry focused their attention on the Middle East, particularly the Persian Gulf, which theybelieved would become the center of postwar oil production. As early as the 1930s, Britain had gained control

over Iran's oil fields and the United States discovered oil reserves in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. After the war

ended, Middle Eastern oil production surged upward. Gradually, American dependence on Middle Eastern oilincreased.

During the 1950s, a combination of cheap fuel and a burgeoning consumer culture led to an orgy ofconsumption. With only six percent of the world's population, the United States accounted for one-third of

global oil consumption. Foreign oil was so cheap that coal-burning utilities made the expensive shift to oil andnatural gas. World oil prices were so low that Iran, Venezuela, and Arab oil producers banded together in 1960

to form OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Producing States, a producers' cartel, to negotiate for higher oilprices.

Arab nations used the oil weapon collectively to pressure the U.S. into forcing Israel to agree to a ceasefire.The

important reason why the U.S. went into Iraq was to gain control of its oil. The assumption was that once theU.S. established control over the Iraqi oil sector, it would be able to control OPEC's ability to manipulate

energy prices. Iraq has the third largest known reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, things havnot gone according to the American blueprint for Iraq. The Shia-dominated Iraqi government is no quisling of

the U.S.; it strives to maintain equidistance from Washington and Teheran. The vast Iraqi oil reserves stillremain untapped. Oil production under Saddam Hussein was higher than what it is now and attacks on pipeline

by the resistance forces continue to happen sporadically.

In Afghanistan, the American dream was to build a gas pipeline that would carry Central Asian gas to lucrative

markets in India and beyond. The ongoing attempts to destabilise Iran are motivated primarily by the desire tocontrol that country's hydrocarbon assets. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-engineered coup against the

democratically elected government of Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 took place after the nationalisation of th


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Western oil companies. The oil companies were against nationalisation after the revolution that toppled the

Shah in 1979. The West was quick to impose economic sanctions on the country. The CIA-backed coup attempagainst Hugo Chavez in 2002 was also aimed at reversing Venezuelan state control over hydrocarbon assets.

Russia, realizing its weaker position vis-a-vis the United States, has been making noises as if it fully agreed

with the U.S. incursions in Afghanistan. But Russia has joined the Shangahi Cooperation Organization (SCO)which includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Takijistan and Uzbekistan. China is using the SCO to

try to align Russia economically and politically towards China and northeast Asia. Russia's membership in the

SCO is an attempt to maintain its traditional hegemony in Central Asia. The underlying rationale of the SCO isthe control of its members' enormous reserves of oil and gas. India, Pakistan and Iran have observer status inthe SCO and hope to become full-fledged members in the near future.

Despite the misgivings of Russia, China, India, or any other nation, Afghanistan and Iraq will now become thebase of operations in destabilizing, isolating, and establishing control over the South Asian regimes and the

Middle-East. [Note that Iran stands between Iraq and Afghanistan and you can understand why Bush II includeIran in the "Axis of Evil."] After the conquest of this area is complete and the permanent military posts are set

up, they will begin construction of a pipeline through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to deliverpetroleum to the Asian market.

Washington's numerous attempts at toppling or assassinating the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi were closelylinked to the desire to take control of Libya's oil.The question of what comes after Qaddafi became morecomplicated as rival claims to forming a provisional liberated government emerged. Documents of the U.S.

State Department accessed by WikiLeaks show that Washington was highly critical of the Libyan government'sresource nationalism. The Libyan rebel leadership seems to have assured Washington that a post-Qaddafi

Libya will be a safe place for the big oil companies to rake in profits.Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil had announced from Benghazi that he would head an interim government. But human rights attorney

Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said from Benghazi that an interim government was being formed for all of liberatedeastern Libya, and disputed Abdel Jalils claim of leadership. The new council will form a paramilitary to take

further territory away from Qaddafis forces, Ghoga said.

Some 80% Libyas developed petroleum fields are in rebel-held territory, and the Benghazi leadership ismaking plans to pump the oil and receive the proceeds. If the standoff with Qaddafi goes on very long, the oilpolitics could prove decisive. With Qaddafis own foreign funds increasingly frozen, and 3/4s of the countrys

oil facilities idled (it ordinarily exports 1.7 million barrels a day), his cash on hand to pay mercenaries and bribclients will rapidly decline, whereas the Benghazi rebels may reap a windfall. Reports about the situation at the

oil fields are chaotic and contradictory, but it seems clear that some oil workers are pumping the oil themselvesas expatriate companies flee, and it is possible that the Benghazi leadership could export by tanker truck despit

the closing of the Italian pipeline.

According to Professor Michael Klare, an American expert on global oil politics, the American military hasbeen transformed into a global oil-protection service for the benefit of U.S. corporations and consumers,

fighting battles overseas and establishing bases all over the world. The U.S. Army, which is engaged in wars inIraq, Afghanistan and Libya at present, is itself one of the biggest consumers of oil. Klare writes that Pentagon'

annual consumption of oil for its Afghanistan operation is more than the annual petroleum usage of Bangladesha country with a population of more than 150 million.

America has a massive commercial interest in oil and natural gas, two resources concentrated in the PersianGulf. While the oil majors control relatively little of the oil produced in the Middle East, they control virtually

all of the gasoline, diesel, and other products refined and sold in the United States. Most U.S. oil now comesfrom outside U.S. borders. (The U.S. produces less oil domestically than any time since Truman was re-

elected.) American leaders have consistently said that the flow of oil from the Gulf is a strategic concern for theUnited States.


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This means that, whatever else happens, so long as Americans consume gasoline (and perhaps, in the future,

liquid natural gas) there will be a major U.S. military presence in the Middle East. That's costly, and leadsinevitably to wars. Remember bin Laden's repeated statements about the intolerable U.S. presence in Saudi

Arabia, if nothing else.Whether we acknowledge it or not, oil imperialism costs us mightily, as it cost Empiresback in the day. You can point to the hundreds of billions (perhaps trillions) for the war, you can point to

climate change, you can point to any number of costs -- and the alternatives would be cheaper.

As an alternative, the following recommendations would be helpful: Appropriate solutions include large-

scale research, development, and implementation programs to improve the scalability of alternative sources ofenergy, other projects geared towards improving mass transit and carpooling programs across the country,providing incentives to buy smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles, and promoting a campaign to increase

awareness about conservation.

My Vision of a Prosperous India

The following poem by the great Indian poet RabindranathTagore adumbrates my vision of a

prosperous INDIA .

y Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.y

Where the knowledge is freey Where the world has not been broken up into fragmentsy By narrow domestic wallsy Where the words come out from the depth of truthy Where the tireless striving stretches its arms towards the perfectiony Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its wayy Into the dreary desert sand of dead habity Where the mind is led forward by Theey Into ever-widening thought and actiony Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country

India: once upon a time mockingly and on occasions disrespectfully referred to as The Land of the Snakecharmers, Elephants and Beggars, The Land of a Million Gods etc., with the advent of time has undergone astark metamorphosis & is now being referred to using flattering epithets such as The Silicon Valley of the

East, The Cradle of the IT industry & The Worlds Outsourcing Hub; clearly signaling Indias arrival onthe big stage in a big way. As understanding of the historical traditions is very important in order to form a

concrete futuristic vision of nation like India. India has a long history and as it is understood presently, it hascovered a span of five thousand years since the period of its first known civilization. In a bid to provide my

vision for and of India in the 21st century, I put forward my perception, views and opinions under differenttopics

In economic field, I hope India will make great progress. Agriculture will make a rapid advance, generating

enough surplus and providing food for everyone. Certainly the industrial development will have a balanced looproviding work for everyone and at the same time bringing prosperity and sustained development for our

natural resources. And there will be no more rise of population.

Often our political leaders lack 'political will' and work in a petty and partisan manner. Still I am hopeful, by

that time democracy will be strengthened in India and it will give rise to true statesmen who will further takeahead my vision of India and each aspect of the Directive Principles of our Constitution will be fulfilled.

The most important part of the human resource development is meaningful education for all. I hope by that tim

India will develop an advanced and relevant education system taking care of the needs of all the aspects of thesociety. I am sure India by that time will be able to take care of the health needs of all its citizen and Right to

Education will achieve its target.


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Elections till be peaceful and every citizen will exercise his/her franchise fearlessly. By that time no politician

or political part will be allowed to exploit caste, region, language or ethnicity for their political gain. Everyindividual as an electorate will have the right to dismiss the representative from the state assembly, local

governing bodies and parliaments at the half way mark of the term of office, if found and proved guilty ofmalpractice. However, in such issues the majority of the opinion of aggrieved individuals will have the valid

decree to decide the above dismissal.Individuals will have the right to nominate a person of extraordinaryabilities in the legislature, even if the said Individual does not contest the elections. Individuals will have the

right to exercise the vote through the mail, telephone and other media e.g. e-mail etc. also. Electorate will have

the right of information from Government, legislatures, except for top secret information. The top-secretinformation will be de-classified after pre-determined period unless and otherwise expressly re-classified.

Terrorism and insurgency perpetrated by both internal and external elements has reduced to a great deal,courtesy the sterling work carried out by an able, transparent and corruption-free Government of India. India is

now a military superpower, boasting of a highly skilled, motivated armed force.Her military prowess becomesunmatched, with countries such as the USA, Russia and Israel requesting India to aid them design complex

defense systems etc. Consequently, terrorism has almost been obliterated as these nations have finally seensense. Peace thus, became their only way out of poverty.

In some of the areas like software technology, genetic engineering and space, although India has made rapid

advances, we still have to be dependent on the developed nations for several technologies. I have a vision that icoming times, India will emerge as one of the world leaders in science and technology. Our development in thifield will also take care of our real needs and will reach to the common people. Our developed industrial and

scientific base will also be able to check brain-drain. It will also help in protecting our environment andsustaining our resource base.

India's policy has always been one of brotherhood and co-existence. yet our borders are surrounded by hostile

war-hawks. Unless a nation is able to defend its borders and integrity, all other developments are of no use. Wedo have several proven instances of internal disturbances. be it Kashmir or the North-East we have dangers all

around. International relations are not only important for making friends but also significant for trade, securityand communication. India will look forward to developing greater economic ties with Russia, South-East Asia,

S. Africa, Latin American countries and also in co-operation with China and geo-economic matters. Ourcountry will also hopefully achieve friendly ties with Pakistan.

Glory of a nation is not complete unless it does well in sports too. I am hopeful that our country will make agreat advance in sports winning a number of Olympic medals and international laurels. Sports will be made

popular at every stage in India.

Lord Macaulay once remarked while addressing the British Parliament in 1835, I have travelled across the

length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar. Such wealth I have seen in thiscountry, such high moral values, people of such high caliber Yes, that is what India was ! Although we have

come a long way since then, we still have a lot to achieve as a nation. I, thus, sincerely hope that my vision for prosperous India in the year 2020 turns into reality. After all, the sky is the limit

Mahakavi Bharati felt that everyone should be educated. This was clearly understood, when he said that,

educating people is better than building thousands of charity homes or temples. We, as individuals, should takeinitiatives for bringing development in our country. I feel that, a person should have at least two meals a day,

everyone must have proper clothes to cover themselves, everyone should have proper shelter with basicamenities and education for all. Do what you can, with what you have and where you are. In India, population i

increasing in geometric progression, whereas food production is increasing in arithmetic progression. Citizensof developed countries are free from agonies related to basic amenities in daily life. It's just a cup of tea for

them. Whereas, it's vice-versa in India. This diverts them, from working towards the development of thecountry. Working towards the development of our country is greater than reaching heaven.