Petrodollar warfare : oil, Iraq and the future of the dollar / William R. Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, William R. (Analyst)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Petroleum products--Prices.

Petroleum products.

Petroleum industry and trade--Political aspects.

Petroleum industry and trade.

Petroleum reserves--Political aspects.

Petroleum reserves.

International finance.

United States--Foreign relations--1989-.

United States.

International relations.

Iraq War, 2003-2011--Causes.

Iraq War, 2003-2011.

Dollar, American.

United States--Economic conditions--2001-2009.

Economic conditions.

United States--Politics and government--2001-2009.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xix, 265 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Gabriola Island, B.C. : New Society, [2005]

Summary:

Petrodollar Warfare poses these questions, and provides some surprising answers. The notion that Iraq was invaded to prevent the development of weapons of mass destruction, or to combat terrorism, has long been discredited. But a growing consensus believes that Iraq's oil was surely a prime reason for US actions. However, author William Clark argues convincingly in Petrodollar Warfare that the rationale for intervening was not just for control of the oil fields, but also for control of the means by which oil is traded in global markets.

Petrodollar Warfare discusses the crucial shift in US monetary policy during the 1970s away from the gold standard to becoming the monopoly currency for worldwide oil sales, effectively enabling the US to dominate world trade. It then analyses global Peak Oil as an additional driver of US foreign policy and the parallel growth of political fundamentalism in the current US administration. Tracking the emergence of the euro as an important challenger to dollar supremacy, the book pinpoints Hussein's November 2000 switch to selling oil for euros as the defining moment for Iraq and, perhaps - without an immediate change in governance - for the noble American experiment.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The American Century: Post-World War II Period 7

The American Century: Three Phases 17

Recycling Petrodollars 21

Neoconservatives and the "Petroeuro" Challenge 23

Third Stage of the American Century: Petrodollar Warfare 26

US Dollar: Fiat Currency or Oil-Backed Currency? 28

US Structural Imbalances: Twin Deficits 36

Euro Challenges US Dollar Hegemony 37

Eurasia versus the Anglo-American Alliance 39

Chapter 2 US Geostrategy and the Persian Gulf: 1945-2005 43

Covert Hegemony to Neoconservative Domination 45

Cold War Geostrategy: Domestic Peak Oil in the Former Soviet Union 47

World Oil Consumption 2000 to 2020 49

Project for a New American Century (PNAC) Neoconservative Policies: 1992-2002 52

The New Great Game: Geopolitical Tensions over Diminishing Hydrocarbon Reserves 58

West Africa: Expanding the War on Terror, or War on Global Oil Control? 66

Oil and War in the 20th Century: The Emerging Role of the US Military in the 21st Century 68

Chapter 3 Global Peak Oil: The Millennium's Greatest Challenge 75

Global Peak Oil: The Greatest Story Never Told 76

The Paradigm Shift: Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) 79

Reported Oil Reserves versus Technical Analysis 79

ANWR: False Panacea 82

Glimpse of Alternative Energy Technologies 83

Peak Oil and the War on Terror 87

Post-Peak Oil World: Three Scenarios 91

Chapter 4 Manifest Subterfuge: Disguising the Macroeconomic and Geostrategic Rationales for War 95

Buildup to Gulf War II: Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction 97

Leo Strauss 1899-1973: Philosophical Father of the Neoconservatives 99

Straussian Governance: Conspiracy Inside the Pentagon 103

Straussian Necessity of an External Threat: Mushroom Clouds to Inspire the Vulgar Many 106

US Government in the New Century: Political Fundamentalism and Tragic Hubris 109

March 19, 2003: An Oil Currency War to Enforce Dollar Hegemony within OPEC 115

Operation Ajax to Operation Iraqi Freedom: 50 Years of History Lessons Not Heeded 123

The Iraq Conundrum: Tactical Victory but Strategic Failure 126

No Exit Strategy and Imperial Overstretch 130

Chapter 5 Dollar Dilemma: Why Petrodollar Hegemony Is Unsustainable 135

Prewar Momentum Toward a Petroeuro 136

OPEC Statements Regarding a Petroeuro 137

OPEC and US Dollar Devaluation 139

International Blowback Against the Dollar? 144

The Saudi Question: The Sword of Damocles 147

Iran's Oil Bourse: Introducing a Euro-denominated Oil Marker 150

America's Achilles Heel: Lessons from the Suez Crisis of 1956 157

Chapter 6 Saving the American Experiment 161

US Media Consolidation: Threat to Our Republic 162

Campaign Finance Structure and Corporate Personhood: Elements of Proto-Fascism 165

US Occupation of Iraq: The Unraveling of Neoconservative Geostrategy 172

Osama bin Laden's Offensive: Economics Not Religion 176

Realistic Campaign against International Terrorism: INTERPOL and the International Criminal Court (ICC) 179

Realigning US Foreign Policies: Rebuilding Good Will Towards America 182

Preserving Freedom at Home: Protecting the Charters of Freedom 188

Chapter 7 Envisioning Progressive Global Reform in the New Century 195

New Realities of the 21st Century: Emerging Tri-Polar World 196

"Old" and "New" Europe as The United States of Europe 198

The European Union: Second Pole of Power 200

China: Emerging Third Pole of Power 202

The Conundrum: Risk of Widespread US Economic Dislocation 204

The Global Imperative: International Energy Projects 208

Crafting a More Balanced Global Economy 211

Global Monetary Reform 216.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-258) and index.

ISBN:

0865715149

OCLC:

60798137