Oil and World Politics: The real story of today's conflict zones: Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ukraine and more

by John Foster

Petroleum is the most valuable commodity in the world and an enormous source of wealth for those who sell it, transport it and transform it for its many uses. As the engine of modern economies and industries, governments everywhere want to assure steady supplies. Without it, their economies would grind to a standstill.Since petroleum is not evenly distributed around the world, powerful countries want to be sure they have access to supplies and markets, whatever the cost to the environment or to human life. Coveting the petroleum of another country is against the rules of international law — yet if accomplished surreptitiously, under the cover of some laudable action, it's a bonanza. This is the basis of "the petroleum game," where countries jockey for control of the world's oil and natural gas. It's an ongoing game of rivalry among global and regional countries, each pursuing its own interests and using whatever tools, allies and organizations offer possible advantage.John Foster has spent his working life as an oil economist. He understands the underlying role played by oil and gas in international affairs. He identifies the hidden issues behind many of the conflicts in the world today. He explores military interventions (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria), tensions around international waterways (Persian Gulf, South China Sea), and use of sanctions or political interference related to petroleum trade (Iran, Russia, Venezuela). He illuminates the petroleum-related reasons for government actions usually camouflaged and rarely discussed publicly by Western politicians or media.Petroleum geopolitics are complex. When clashes and conflicts occur, they are multi-dimensional. This book ferrets out pieces of the multi-faceted puzzle in the dark world of petroleum and fits them together.

Genres: Economics

280 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Foster (1934- )

Reviews

[WiseB · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the title of the book it is obviously about petroleum politics ... especially geopolitics. The book primarily covers Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Afghanistan, Ukraine and the five strategic waterways (Strait of Hormuz, Mandab Strait, Suez Canal, Strait of Malacca, South China Sea).
For each of these countries and waterways, the author started out with a summary of its importance ... both historically and geographically, this is followed by its background story of including historical events like wars, conflicts, third party interventions, and influence from various world organisations. Putting these altogether, the other related oil and pipelines related geopolitics come into the picture with the author revealing more information and insights of these regions, which mostly involving interests of USA, Russia, Europe and Asia.