Crude Awakenings : Global Oil Security and American Foreign Policy

"The real story of global oil over the past twenty-five years is not about the spillover effects of Palestinians fighting Israelis, or terrorist attacks on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, or Iraq's stormy relationship with Kuwait. It is not even about periodic small- and large-scale U.S. attacks on Iraq. Rather, the real story is about longer-term developments that have changed the international relations of the Middle East, politics at the global level, and world oil markets. These developments have increased oil stability."—from the Introduction Thirty years after OAPEC shattered world markets for oil, the Western world remains profoundly dependent on foreign, particularly Middle Eastern, sources of petroleum. U.S. political rhetoric is suffused with claims about the vulnerability caused by this dependence. Hence, many political analysts assume that a search for stability of petroleum supplies is an important element of contemporary American foreign policy. Steve A. Yetiv argues that common assumptions about oil markets are wrong. Although prices remain volatile, Yetiv's account portrays a world market in petroleum products far more benign and predictable than the one to which we are accustomed. In Crude Awakenings , he identifies and analyzes real and potential threats to the global energy supply, including wars, revolutions, coups, dangerous alliances, oil embargoes, Islamic radicalism, and transnational terrorism. However, he also shows how some of these threats have been mitigated and how global oil security has been reinforced.

"The real story of global oil over the past twenty-five years is not about the spillover effects of Palestinians fighting Israelis, or terrorist attacks on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, or Iraq's stormy relationship with Kuwait. It is not even about periodic small- and large-scale U.S. attacks on Iraq. Rather, the real story is about longer-term developments that have changed the international relations of the Middle East, politics at the global level, and world oil markets. These developments have increased oil stability."—from the Introduction

Thirty years after OAPEC shattered world markets for oil, the Western world remains profoundly dependent on foreign, particularly Middle Eastern, sources of petroleum. U.S. political rhetoric is suffused with claims about the vulnerability caused by this dependence. Hence, many political analysts assume that a search for stability of petroleum supplies is an important element of contemporary American foreign policy.

Steve A. Yetiv argues that common assumptions about oil markets are wrong. Although prices remain volatile, Yetiv's account portrays a world market in petroleum products far more benign and predictable than the one to which we are accustomed. In Crude Awakenings, he identifies and analyzes real and potential threats to the global energy supply, including wars, revolutions, coups, dangerous alliances, oil embargoes, Islamic radicalism, and transnational terrorism. However, he also shows how some of these threats have been mitigated and how global oil security has been reinforced.

Steve A. Yetiv Argues That Common Assumptions About Oil Markets Are Wrong. Although Prices Remain Volatile, Yetiv's Account Portrays A World Market In Petroleum Products Far More Benign And Predictable Than The One To Which We Are Accustomed. In Crude Awakenings, He Identifies And Analyzes Real And Potential Threats To The Global Energy Supply, Including Wars, Revolutions, Coups, Dangerous Alliances, Oil Embargoes, Islamic Radicalism, And Transnational Terrorism. However, He Also Shows How Some Of These Threats Have Been Mitigated And How Global Oil Security Has Been Reinforced.--jacket. Threats To Saudi Stability -- Power Shifts -- The Chief Guarantor Of Oil Stability -- The United States In The Middle East Before And After September 11 -- The Cold War And Global Interdependence -- The China Factor -- The Oil Weapon -- Multiple Cushions For Oil Shocks -- Oil Market Dynamics And Opec -- Global Oil, High Technology, And The Environment -- Twenty-first-century Threats To Global Oil Stability. Steve A. Yetiv. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Threats to Saudi Stability 3. Power Shifts 4. The Chief Guarantor of Oil Stability 5. The United States in the Middle East before and after September 11 6. The Cold War and Global Interdependence 7. The China Factor 8. The Oil Weapon 9. Multiple Cushions for Oil Shocks 10. Oil Market Dynamics and OPEC 11. Global Oil, High Technology, and the Environment 12. Twenty-First-Century Threats to Global Oil Stability Appendix A. List of Interview Subjects Appendix B. The Middle East and Global Energy: A Chronology, 1973–2003 Index "Steve A. Yetiv argues that common assumptions about oil markets are wrong. Although prices remain volatile, Yetiv's account portrays a world market in petroleum products far more benign and predictable than the one to which we are accustomed. In Crude Awakenings, he identifies and analyzes real and potential threats to the global energy supply, including wars, revolutions, coups, dangerous alliances, oil embargoes, Islamic radicalism, and transnational terrorism. However, he also shows how some of these threats have been mitigated and how global oil security has been reinforced."--BOOK JACKET.