The Role of Oil in the Determination of the Economic History of the US - Essay Example

The Role of Oil in the Determination of the Social, Political and Economic History of the United s: 1981 - The Present The role that oil has played in regards to the United States in general is truly incredible and significant, and although over the years its importance and characteristics in the world overall have altered, the fact consistently remains that it is one of the United States' most efficient and productive markets and will always continue to be so. In particular oil plays a key role in the determining of social, political and economic matters in the United States, and there are numerous different factual examples which can be discussed in order to prove this statement. One occurrence in particular in which the role of oil has been astonishingly significant is in fact taking place in the world today, as it revolves around the war in Iraq; oil was not only considered as being a significant reasoning behind the United States' attack put forth on Iraq, but as well on the offered and initiated involvement of the UK in the war as well. These are obviously incredibly important and dire implications, of which thus must be properly and thoroughly addressed and discussed in order to emancipate, and that is what will be completed within this discussion. The aim of this paper is to bring about and discuss the issue of the role of oil in the United States, and in particular how oil has been a part of the determining of various different social, political and economic actions in the U.S., particularly from the year 1981 to the present day. By discussing all of the previously mentioned issues as well as any and all other key and related factors, we will be able to come to a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding on the given subject matter overall. This is what will be dissertated in the following. For over fifty years now, the protection of oil supplies is an issue which has been considered as being a central U.S. national security interest, and thus has been vigorously defended with military and diplomatic pressure. At the present time, statistics show that "oil provides 40% of energy and 97% of transportation fuel in the U.S. It is central to American industries like agriculture and tourism, and is critical to the U.S. military, since oil fuels nearly all weapons-delivery systemsandYet America is increasingly dependent on foreign sources of oil to meet its needs; oil consumption is growing, but domestic production has been in decline since the 1970s, and the United States now imports more than half of the oil it consumes" (Pelletiere, 2004). What is more, is that as the demand in America continues to increase, the overall importance of secure access to foreign oil supplies grows, and this reality is one which has truly been reflected in many different ways, particularly in American foreign policy since Franklin D. Roosevelt's initial relationship with the Saudi royal family, which spans over the past three decades in particular. Jimmy Carter is one person in particular who has made this link more explicit, when in the year 1980 he stated that "An attempt made by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force" (Pelletiere, 2004). Historically speaking, the significant reliance that America has had on foreign oil supplies has led the United States to somewhat 'look the other way' in regards to its relationships with dictators and despots, and it is strongly thought that "In the current environment of regional conflict and global terrorism, it is imprudent for America to saddle its foreign policy with the geopolitical constraints of oil dependence. America is in a position to choose its future energy policy: it can become more dependent on imported oil, using foreign policy and military force as tools to secure its energy supplies, or it can undertake the difficult task of decoupling energy policy and military policy by decreasing oil consumption and investing in renewable technologies" (Pelletiere, 2004). When we take a look as far back as to the 1930s and 1940s, we can see that the U.S. was either an exporter of oil or self-sufficient, however at the end of the decade there was an incredible shift in technology, and the book of petroleum-powered vehicles in particular was something which rapidly transformed the United States into a more consistent net importer of oil. It was later on in the year 1940 when policymakers in Washington came to the realization that the United States would eventually become dependent on the Middle East for oil, and this is the point in time at which they really began to plan for securing access to this vital commodity. Over the next few decades the United States continued to advance and heighten their relationship with the Middle East, and then, at the end of the 1980s, several key occurrences took place. By 1990, for instance, President George H. W. Bush employed the Carter Doctrine when Iraq invaded Kuwait, posing an implied threat to American ally Saudi Arabia, and in his national address announcing the deployment of troops in Iraq, President Bush said that: "The stakes are high. Iraq is already a rich and powerful country that possesses the world's second largest reserves of oil and over a million men under arms. It's the fourth largest military in the world. Our country now imports nearly half the oil it consumes and could face a major threat to its economic independence. Much of the world is even more dependent upon imported oil and is even more vulnerable to Iraqi threats" (Pelletiere, 2004). Thus the role that oil has played in regards to the history of the United States has been incredibly poignant and significant, and as of recently it has taken a much stronger political stance in this regards. The struggle for political power, after all, can easily become intertwined with the desire to control petroleum reserves and oil revenues, and overall, the result, as a World Bank study recently indicated, is that "countries that export oil are more than forty times more likely to be engaged in civil war than countries that do not" (Pelletiere, 2004). The war that is currently going on in Iraq shows this, however this is most certainly not the only war that has been relative to this issue, as particularly between the years of 1980 to now, there have been a number of different conflicts which have taken place between the United States and other countries which were revolved around the oil issue. Although the political issues of the United States have been most greatly affected, particularly as of recently, the social and economic realms in the United States have been significantly affected as well, especially economically, as we have seen over the past few years in particular with the prices of gas and other oil commodities increasing consistently. Overall from this review we can conclude many different things, several of particular importance, and namely the fact of how significant a role oil has played in the history of the United States, as well as in the present, and predictably in the future even more so. The war in Iraq which is currently ongoing is simply the most major and significant occurrence which goes to prove this statement, and when we consider the fact that worldwide consumption of oil is in fact projected to grow more than 60% in the next two decades, it is quite obvious then that increased competition for existing energy supplies is going to be inevitable. The United States and Russia are in fact already vying for control in the Caspian Sea area, and this is quickly resulting in military build-up and questionable partnerships in the region. Oil is such an important resource, not only in the United States but all over the world, and this is truly why effective and efficient solutions need to be made immediately in order for there to be some sort of conclusion or assistance drawn onto this incredibly serious dilemma. Once proper solutions have been brought about, then it is assumed - and hoped - that less conflicts will be enabled in the future. Works Cited Pelletiere, Stephen C. Iraq and the International Oil System: Why America Went to War in the Gulf. Maryland: Maisonneuve Press, 2004. Read More