Author: Matthieu Auzanneau
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603589783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 674
Book Description
The story of oil is one of hubris, fortune, betrayal, and destruction. It is the story of a resource that has been undeniably central to the creation of our modern culture, and ever-present during the darkest exploits of empire the world over. For the past 150 years, oil has become the most essential ingredient for economic, military, and political power. And it has brought us to our present moment in which political leaders and the fossil-fuel industry consider extraordinary, and extraordinarily dangerous, policy on a world stage marked by shifting power bases. Upending the conventional wisdom by crafting a “people’s history,” award-winning journalist Matthieu Auzanneau deftly traces how oil became a national and then global addiction, outlines the enormous consequences of that addiction, sheds new light on major historical and contemporary figures, and raises new questions about stories we thought we knew well: What really sparked the oil crises in the 1970s, the shift away from the gold standard at Bretton Woods, or even the financial crash of 2008? How has oil shaped the events that have defined our times: two world wars, the Cold War, the Great Depression, ongoing wars in the Middle East, the advent of neoliberalism, and the Great Recession, among them? With brutal clarity, Oil, Power, and War exposes the heavy hand oil has had in all of our lives—and illustrates how much heavier that hand could get during the increasingly desperate race to control the last of the world’s easily and cheaply extractable reserves.
Oil, Power, and War
Author: Matthieu Auzanneau
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603589783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 674
Book Description
The story of oil is one of hubris, fortune, betrayal, and destruction. It is the story of a resource that has been undeniably central to the creation of our modern culture, and ever-present during the darkest exploits of empire the world over. For the past 150 years, oil has become the most essential ingredient for economic, military, and political power. And it has brought us to our present moment in which political leaders and the fossil-fuel industry consider extraordinary, and extraordinarily dangerous, policy on a world stage marked by shifting power bases. Upending the conventional wisdom by crafting a “people’s history,” award-winning journalist Matthieu Auzanneau deftly traces how oil became a national and then global addiction, outlines the enormous consequences of that addiction, sheds new light on major historical and contemporary figures, and raises new questions about stories we thought we knew well: What really sparked the oil crises in the 1970s, the shift away from the gold standard at Bretton Woods, or even the financial crash of 2008? How has oil shaped the events that have defined our times: two world wars, the Cold War, the Great Depression, ongoing wars in the Middle East, the advent of neoliberalism, and the Great Recession, among them? With brutal clarity, Oil, Power, and War exposes the heavy hand oil has had in all of our lives—and illustrates how much heavier that hand could get during the increasingly desperate race to control the last of the world’s easily and cheaply extractable reserves.
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603589783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 674
Book Description
The story of oil is one of hubris, fortune, betrayal, and destruction. It is the story of a resource that has been undeniably central to the creation of our modern culture, and ever-present during the darkest exploits of empire the world over. For the past 150 years, oil has become the most essential ingredient for economic, military, and political power. And it has brought us to our present moment in which political leaders and the fossil-fuel industry consider extraordinary, and extraordinarily dangerous, policy on a world stage marked by shifting power bases. Upending the conventional wisdom by crafting a “people’s history,” award-winning journalist Matthieu Auzanneau deftly traces how oil became a national and then global addiction, outlines the enormous consequences of that addiction, sheds new light on major historical and contemporary figures, and raises new questions about stories we thought we knew well: What really sparked the oil crises in the 1970s, the shift away from the gold standard at Bretton Woods, or even the financial crash of 2008? How has oil shaped the events that have defined our times: two world wars, the Cold War, the Great Depression, ongoing wars in the Middle East, the advent of neoliberalism, and the Great Recession, among them? With brutal clarity, Oil, Power, and War exposes the heavy hand oil has had in all of our lives—and illustrates how much heavier that hand could get during the increasingly desperate race to control the last of the world’s easily and cheaply extractable reserves.
Carbon Democracy
Author: Timothy Mitchell
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1781681163
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
“A brilliant, revisionist argument that places oil companies at the heart of 20th century history—and of the political and environmental crises we now face.” —Guardian Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. Timothy Mitchell begins with the history of coal power to tell a radical new story about the rise of democracy. Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable for the first time to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil, most notably from the Middle East, offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible for the first time in history to reorganize political life around the management of something now called “the economy” and the promise of its infinite growth. The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy—the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fuelled collapse of the ecological order. In making the production of energy the central force shaping the democratic age, Carbon Democracy rethinks the history of energy, the politics of nature, the theory of democracy, and the place of the Middle East in our common world.
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1781681163
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
“A brilliant, revisionist argument that places oil companies at the heart of 20th century history—and of the political and environmental crises we now face.” —Guardian Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. Timothy Mitchell begins with the history of coal power to tell a radical new story about the rise of democracy. Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable for the first time to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil, most notably from the Middle East, offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible for the first time in history to reorganize political life around the management of something now called “the economy” and the promise of its infinite growth. The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy—the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fuelled collapse of the ecological order. In making the production of energy the central force shaping the democratic age, Carbon Democracy rethinks the history of energy, the politics of nature, the theory of democracy, and the place of the Middle East in our common world.
Global Energy Politics
Author: Thijs Van de Graaf
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509530517
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
Ever since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism. The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509530517
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
Ever since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism. The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.
Wheel of Fortune
Author: Thane Gustafson
Publisher: Belknap Press
ISBN: 0674066472
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 673
Book Description
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year on Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics The Russian oil industry—which vies with Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil, providing nearly 12 percent of the global supply—is facing mounting problems that could send shock waves through the Russian economy and worldwide. Wheel of Fortune provides an authoritative account of this vital industry from the last years of communism to its uncertain future. Tracking the interdependence among Russia’s oil industry, politics, and economy, Thane Gustafson shows how the stakes extend beyond international energy security to include the potential threat of a destabilized Russia. “Few have studied the Russian oil and gas industry longer or with a broader political perspective than Gustafson. The result is this superb book, which is not merely a fascinating, subtle history of the industry since the Soviet Union’s collapse but also the single most revealing work on Russian politics and economics published in the last several years.” —Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs “The history of Russia’s oil industry since the collapse of communism is the history of the country itself. There can be few better guides to this terrain than Thane Gustafson.” —Neil Buckley, Financial Times
Publisher: Belknap Press
ISBN: 0674066472
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 673
Book Description
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year on Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics The Russian oil industry—which vies with Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil, providing nearly 12 percent of the global supply—is facing mounting problems that could send shock waves through the Russian economy and worldwide. Wheel of Fortune provides an authoritative account of this vital industry from the last years of communism to its uncertain future. Tracking the interdependence among Russia’s oil industry, politics, and economy, Thane Gustafson shows how the stakes extend beyond international energy security to include the potential threat of a destabilized Russia. “Few have studied the Russian oil and gas industry longer or with a broader political perspective than Gustafson. The result is this superb book, which is not merely a fascinating, subtle history of the industry since the Soviet Union’s collapse but also the single most revealing work on Russian politics and economics published in the last several years.” —Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs “The history of Russia’s oil industry since the collapse of communism is the history of the country itself. There can be few better guides to this terrain than Thane Gustafson.” —Neil Buckley, Financial Times
Mirage
Author: Aileen Keating
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615925384
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
In this fascinating history of the discovery, development, and exploitation of Middle East oil, an international journalist tells a largely unknown story rich in drama, conflict, and comic interludes. Illustrations.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615925384
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
In this fascinating history of the discovery, development, and exploitation of Middle East oil, an international journalist tells a largely unknown story rich in drama, conflict, and comic interludes. Illustrations.
Abu Dhabi
Author: Christopher M. Davidson
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849041539
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
Abu Dhabi is a new economic superpower that will soon wield enormous influence across both developing and developed worlds. The principal emirate of the United Arab Emirates federation commands over 8 percent of global oil reserves, has nearly $1 trillion in sovereign wealth funds to invest and is busily implementing a thoughtful economic master plan. It has also pumped huge amounts of money into culture, sport and infrastructural development in an attempt to eclipse even its ubiquitous UAE partner-Dubai-as an international household name. Abu Dhabi will host the Formula One Championship decider in 2009, is opening the world's first Ferrari theme park, has a rapidly expanding airline and is setting up satellite branches of the Guggenheim and Louvre museums. Gulf expert Christopher Davidson's book charts the emirate's remarkable trajectory from its origins as an eighteenth-century sheikdom to its present position on the cusp of preeminence. Abu Dhabi's impressive socio-economic development, he offers a frank portrayal of a dynasty's dramatic survival, demonstrating the newfound resilience of a traditional monarchy in the twenty-first century and its efforts to create a system of 'tribal capitalism' that incorporates old political allegiances into modern engines of growth. Finally, he turns his attention to a number of problems that may surface to impede economic development and undermine political stability. These include an enfeebled civil society and invasive media censorship, a seemingly unsolvable labor nationalization paradox, an under performing education sector, and increasing federal unrest.
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849041539
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
Abu Dhabi is a new economic superpower that will soon wield enormous influence across both developing and developed worlds. The principal emirate of the United Arab Emirates federation commands over 8 percent of global oil reserves, has nearly $1 trillion in sovereign wealth funds to invest and is busily implementing a thoughtful economic master plan. It has also pumped huge amounts of money into culture, sport and infrastructural development in an attempt to eclipse even its ubiquitous UAE partner-Dubai-as an international household name. Abu Dhabi will host the Formula One Championship decider in 2009, is opening the world's first Ferrari theme park, has a rapidly expanding airline and is setting up satellite branches of the Guggenheim and Louvre museums. Gulf expert Christopher Davidson's book charts the emirate's remarkable trajectory from its origins as an eighteenth-century sheikdom to its present position on the cusp of preeminence. Abu Dhabi's impressive socio-economic development, he offers a frank portrayal of a dynasty's dramatic survival, demonstrating the newfound resilience of a traditional monarchy in the twenty-first century and its efforts to create a system of 'tribal capitalism' that incorporates old political allegiances into modern engines of growth. Finally, he turns his attention to a number of problems that may surface to impede economic development and undermine political stability. These include an enfeebled civil society and invasive media censorship, a seemingly unsolvable labor nationalization paradox, an under performing education sector, and increasing federal unrest.
Landscapes of Power
Author: Dana E. Powell
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822372290
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
In Landscapes of Power Dana E. Powell examines the rise and fall of the controversial Desert Rock Power Plant initiative in New Mexico to trace the political conflicts surrounding native sovereignty and contemporary energy development on Navajo (Diné) Nation land. Powell's historical and ethnographic account shows how the coal-fired power plant project's defeat provided the basis for redefining the legacies of colonialism, mineral extraction, and environmentalism. Examining the labor of activists, artists, politicians, elders, technicians, and others, Powell emphasizes the generative potential of Navajo resistance to articulate a vision of autonomy in the face of twenty-first-century colonial conditions. Ultimately, Powell situates local Navajo struggles over energy technology and infrastructure within broader sociocultural life, debates over global climate change, and tribal, federal, and global politics of extraction.
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822372290
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
In Landscapes of Power Dana E. Powell examines the rise and fall of the controversial Desert Rock Power Plant initiative in New Mexico to trace the political conflicts surrounding native sovereignty and contemporary energy development on Navajo (Diné) Nation land. Powell's historical and ethnographic account shows how the coal-fired power plant project's defeat provided the basis for redefining the legacies of colonialism, mineral extraction, and environmentalism. Examining the labor of activists, artists, politicians, elders, technicians, and others, Powell emphasizes the generative potential of Navajo resistance to articulate a vision of autonomy in the face of twenty-first-century colonial conditions. Ultimately, Powell situates local Navajo struggles over energy technology and infrastructure within broader sociocultural life, debates over global climate change, and tribal, federal, and global politics of extraction.
The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics
Author: Kathleen J. Hancock
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190861363
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 833
Book Description
"In many ways, everything we once knew about energy resources and technologies has been impacted by: the longstanding scientific consensus on climate change and related support for renewable energy; the affordability of extraction of unconventional fuels; increasing demand for energy resources by middle- and low-income nations; new regional and global stakeholders; fossil fuel discoveries and emerging renewable technologies; awareness of (trans)local politics; and rising interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the need for energy justice. Research on these and related topics now appears frequently in social science academic journals-in broad-based journals, such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Review of International Political Economy, as well as those focused specifically on energy (e.g., Energy Research & Social Science and Energy Policy), the environment (Global Environmental Politics), natural resources (Resources Policy), and extractive industries (Extractive Industries and Society). The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics synthesizes and aggregates this substantively diverse literature to provide insights into, and a foundation for teaching and research on, critical energy issues primarily in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. Its primary goals are to further develop the energy politics scholarship and community, and generate sophisticated new work that will benefit a variety of scholars working on energy issues"--
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190861363
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 833
Book Description
"In many ways, everything we once knew about energy resources and technologies has been impacted by: the longstanding scientific consensus on climate change and related support for renewable energy; the affordability of extraction of unconventional fuels; increasing demand for energy resources by middle- and low-income nations; new regional and global stakeholders; fossil fuel discoveries and emerging renewable technologies; awareness of (trans)local politics; and rising interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the need for energy justice. Research on these and related topics now appears frequently in social science academic journals-in broad-based journals, such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Review of International Political Economy, as well as those focused specifically on energy (e.g., Energy Research & Social Science and Energy Policy), the environment (Global Environmental Politics), natural resources (Resources Policy), and extractive industries (Extractive Industries and Society). The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics synthesizes and aggregates this substantively diverse literature to provide insights into, and a foundation for teaching and research on, critical energy issues primarily in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. Its primary goals are to further develop the energy politics scholarship and community, and generate sophisticated new work that will benefit a variety of scholars working on energy issues"--
Oil, Power and Politics
Author: Mordechai Abir
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113578163X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334
Book Description
This study of political relations in the Middle East analyzes the reasons behind the instability of the region.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113578163X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334
Book Description
This study of political relations in the Middle East analyzes the reasons behind the instability of the region.
Edward L. Doheny
Author: Dan LaBotz
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
If there had been a Life Styles of the Rich and Famous in the 1920s, the notorious oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny would surely have been featured. For at the peak of his powers, between 1904 and 1927, this L.A. hometown boy was one of the most important men of his times and, in fact, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. As the first to discover oil in Los Angeles--which sparked an oil boom there--this multi-faceted entrepreneur profoundly influenced the growth of both Los Angeles and the state of California. Then, as one of its earliest developers, Doheny helped put Beverly Hills on the map. On an international scale, he established vast oil fields in Mexico and virtually controlled that country's oil industry. This petroleum state that Doheny created and ruled extended over Veracruz, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Patosi and was defended by a Doheny-financed army of 6,000 men. The oil baron's opposition to the various revolutionary governments is legendary and some historians believe that Doheny was responsible for the murder of Mexican President Carranza. Finally, Doheny played a major role in the Teapot Dome Scandal, the greatest political impropriety in U.S. history up to that time. Dan La Botz has taken this rich collection of material plus new information on Doheny's personal life and provided the first biography of a man who, for better or worse, left his mark on the nation's industrial and economic development. The ten-chapter biography integrates all Doheny's nefarious doings and gives a full account of his attempts to shape U.S. foreign policy. In addition to assessing Doheny's public life, the study reviews the causes of his son and his son's best friend's deaths. La Botz details how Doheny almost singlehandedly created the Fuel-oil Age by helping convert railroads from coal-burning to petroleum-burning engines and in the process opened up a huge market for petroleum as fuel. Edward L. Doheny, for the first time, gives a complete and accurate estimation of the oilman's part in the Teapot Dome Scandal, detailing how Doheny bribed his friend Albert Bacon Fall, a cabinet member of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and corrupted the highest levels of U.S. government in an attempt to control the U.S. Navy's oil reserve. As a biography, La Botz attempts to understand the major events of Doheny's personal life while concentrating on his role as economic and political leader. He also provides us with the history of the Doheny companies and a study of imperialism in its classical period. This in-depth biography will shed much light on the period for students and scholars of U.S. and Mexican history and will be read avidly by general readers interested in the growth of Los Angeles and the infancy of the oil industry.
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
If there had been a Life Styles of the Rich and Famous in the 1920s, the notorious oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny would surely have been featured. For at the peak of his powers, between 1904 and 1927, this L.A. hometown boy was one of the most important men of his times and, in fact, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. As the first to discover oil in Los Angeles--which sparked an oil boom there--this multi-faceted entrepreneur profoundly influenced the growth of both Los Angeles and the state of California. Then, as one of its earliest developers, Doheny helped put Beverly Hills on the map. On an international scale, he established vast oil fields in Mexico and virtually controlled that country's oil industry. This petroleum state that Doheny created and ruled extended over Veracruz, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Patosi and was defended by a Doheny-financed army of 6,000 men. The oil baron's opposition to the various revolutionary governments is legendary and some historians believe that Doheny was responsible for the murder of Mexican President Carranza. Finally, Doheny played a major role in the Teapot Dome Scandal, the greatest political impropriety in U.S. history up to that time. Dan La Botz has taken this rich collection of material plus new information on Doheny's personal life and provided the first biography of a man who, for better or worse, left his mark on the nation's industrial and economic development. The ten-chapter biography integrates all Doheny's nefarious doings and gives a full account of his attempts to shape U.S. foreign policy. In addition to assessing Doheny's public life, the study reviews the causes of his son and his son's best friend's deaths. La Botz details how Doheny almost singlehandedly created the Fuel-oil Age by helping convert railroads from coal-burning to petroleum-burning engines and in the process opened up a huge market for petroleum as fuel. Edward L. Doheny, for the first time, gives a complete and accurate estimation of the oilman's part in the Teapot Dome Scandal, detailing how Doheny bribed his friend Albert Bacon Fall, a cabinet member of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and corrupted the highest levels of U.S. government in an attempt to control the U.S. Navy's oil reserve. As a biography, La Botz attempts to understand the major events of Doheny's personal life while concentrating on his role as economic and political leader. He also provides us with the history of the Doheny companies and a study of imperialism in its classical period. This in-depth biography will shed much light on the period for students and scholars of U.S. and Mexican history and will be read avidly by general readers interested in the growth of Los Angeles and the infancy of the oil industry.