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Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar
The invasion of Iraq may well be remembered as the first oil currency war. Far from being a response to 9/11 terrorism or Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, Petrodollar Warfare argues that the invasion was precipitated by two converging the imminent peak in global oil production and the ascendance of the euro currency. Energy analysts agree that world oil supplies are about to peak, after which there will be a steady decline in supplies of oil. Iraq, possessing the world’s second-largest oil reserves, was therefore already a target of US geostrategic interests. Together with the fact that Iraq had switched to paying for oil in euros—rather than US dollars—the Bush administration’s unreported aim was to prevent further OPEC momentum in favor of the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency standard. Meticulously researched, Petrodollar Warfare examines US dollar hegemony and the unsustainable macroeconomics of ‘petrodollar recycling,’ pointing out that the issues underlying the Iraq war also apply to geostrategic tensions between the United States and other countries, including the member states of the European Union, Iran, Venezuela and Russia. The author warns that without changing course, the American experiment will end the way all empires end—with military overextension and subsequent economic decline. He recommends the multilateral pursuit of both energy and monetary reforms within a UN framework to create a more balanced global energy and monetary system—thereby reducing the possibility of future oil and oil currency-related warfare. A sober call for an end to aggressive US unilateralism, Petrodollar Warfare is a unique contribution to the debate about the future global political economy. William R. Clark is manager of performance improvement at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research on oil depletion, oil currency issues and US geostrategy received a 2003 Project Censored Award and was published in Censored 2004 . He lives in Columbia, Maryland.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2005
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About the author
William R. Clark
16 books2 followersLibrarian's note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. This is Williams R.^^Clark.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 13, 2013
Eye opening read on how the US creates and maintains its global hegemony, by using the dollar and forging an alliance either a voluntary one (Saudi) or involuntary one (Libya,Syria, Iraq), in order to trade oil with dollar and dollar only, and how this creates an artificial demand for this currency, and stimulates the US consumer economy.
June 4, 2007
Great Book, here's an important article about the petrocurrencies by the author:
Hysteria Over Iran and a New Cold War with Russia: Peak Oil, Petrocurrencies and the Emerging Multi-Polar World
By William Clark Global Research, January 6, 2007
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/wil...
The 21st century will likely be defined by three overarching forces: climate change, Peak Oil, and macroeconomics.
The twin issues of climate change and Peak Oil are intertwined variables, and each represent extremely important phenomena that have slowly gained some public awareness. However, the third issue, macroeconomics in its geopolitical context, and more specifically the global trends regarding petrocurrencies, remains essentially unreported by the five US corporate media conglomerates.
Hysteria Over Iran and a New Cold War with Russia: Peak Oil, Petrocurrencies and the Emerging Multi-Polar World
By William Clark Global Research, January 6, 2007
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/wil...
The 21st century will likely be defined by three overarching forces: climate change, Peak Oil, and macroeconomics.
The twin issues of climate change and Peak Oil are intertwined variables, and each represent extremely important phenomena that have slowly gained some public awareness. However, the third issue, macroeconomics in its geopolitical context, and more specifically the global trends regarding petrocurrencies, remains essentially unreported by the five US corporate media conglomerates.
September 7, 2017
Very interesting read.
This book was publishing in 2005, shortly after the USA's invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein. It is dated in some ways but I learned a fair amount about the US deficit, the petrodollar, and Peak oil production.
The basic thesis of the book is that the USA is traveling down a dangerous road and needs to change its ways to prevent catastrophe. According to the author the US needs to change its reliance on foreign oil, find alternative sources of energy, adopt programs to use these sources, start functioning within a reasonable budget, cut back on senseless wars abroad, start working with other countries amicably rather than aggressively, work with the UN and other major countries to come up with a shared metro currency that is beneficial for all nations.
If his thesis is true, we're screwed. Alas, most likely none of his suggestions will be adopted. Thus, the book is an informative if depressing read.
My only issue with the book is that there are too many quotes. Each chapter starts with several quotes from various individuals. Some of them quite lengthy. Many times a chapter will begin with 1 to 1 and 1/2 pages of quotes. Also within each chapter there are subsections. Each of these subsections starts with a few quotes as well. And on top of this within the authors writing, there are block quotes and inline quotes too. I'd estimate that at least 50% of the book is quotations from others.
The plus side of this, though, is there are many references for further reading.
Still, all in all, a very interesting read. I finished it in two days even though I had quite a bit of other stuff going on as well.
This book was publishing in 2005, shortly after the USA's invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein. It is dated in some ways but I learned a fair amount about the US deficit, the petrodollar, and Peak oil production.
The basic thesis of the book is that the USA is traveling down a dangerous road and needs to change its ways to prevent catastrophe. According to the author the US needs to change its reliance on foreign oil, find alternative sources of energy, adopt programs to use these sources, start functioning within a reasonable budget, cut back on senseless wars abroad, start working with other countries amicably rather than aggressively, work with the UN and other major countries to come up with a shared metro currency that is beneficial for all nations.
If his thesis is true, we're screwed. Alas, most likely none of his suggestions will be adopted. Thus, the book is an informative if depressing read.
My only issue with the book is that there are too many quotes. Each chapter starts with several quotes from various individuals. Some of them quite lengthy. Many times a chapter will begin with 1 to 1 and 1/2 pages of quotes. Also within each chapter there are subsections. Each of these subsections starts with a few quotes as well. And on top of this within the authors writing, there are block quotes and inline quotes too. I'd estimate that at least 50% of the book is quotations from others.
The plus side of this, though, is there are many references for further reading.
Still, all in all, a very interesting read. I finished it in two days even though I had quite a bit of other stuff going on as well.
March 15, 2021
The good parts are mind blowing, but the bad parts (specifically the predictions that didn’t happen) bring the whole book down because they have the same apocalyptic tone as the good parts. However, that tone is completely appropriate for things like the proposed justification for the Iraq War, the reliance the US has on the dollar being the reserve currency, and more.
July 8, 2020
A critical 'must read' for anyone interested in geopolitics, peak oil, and the crumbling fiat/petro dollar paradigm.
Politically it is somewhat out-of-date simply due to the inevitable passage of time (remember when the Iraq War and yellow cake uranium was a subject of political controversy?) However, W. Clark's macroscopic analysis of these aforementioned subjects remains not only relevant, but compelling.
Note that you may not necessarily agree with Clark's political orientation and prescriptions, though. One of the concluding chapters titled "Envisioning Progressive Global Reform" is sure to trigger red flags for those on the right, and Clark's pragmatic conservatism surely does not tune well with the left-liberal political wavelength.
Yet, I recommend this book without reservation (besides being dated) because Clark fairly and objectively describes a set of intractable geopolitical realities that simply don't care about anyone's personal politics.
Politically it is somewhat out-of-date simply due to the inevitable passage of time (remember when the Iraq War and yellow cake uranium was a subject of political controversy?) However, W. Clark's macroscopic analysis of these aforementioned subjects remains not only relevant, but compelling.
Note that you may not necessarily agree with Clark's political orientation and prescriptions, though. One of the concluding chapters titled "Envisioning Progressive Global Reform" is sure to trigger red flags for those on the right, and Clark's pragmatic conservatism surely does not tune well with the left-liberal political wavelength.
Yet, I recommend this book without reservation (besides being dated) because Clark fairly and objectively describes a set of intractable geopolitical realities that simply don't care about anyone's personal politics.
June 10, 2007
exploring the possible links between currency, oil, and war. a little (actually, way) too mainstream for my taste.
October 2, 2013
An amazing, authoritative account of The Bush Doctrine, with its illegal, pre-emptive war against a poverty-stricken 3rd world country...
January 26, 2016
Incredibly well-written!
August 26, 2013
Everything you'd like to know about how the oil business is conducting with the *Superpower
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews