Oil supply crisis : cooperation and discord in the West / Vessela Chakarova.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chakarova, Vessela.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Petroleum industry and trade--History--20th century.

Petroleum industry and trade.

Petroleum reserves.

Petroleum products--Prices.

Petroleum products.

Energy consumption.

Energy policy.

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 149 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2013]

Summary:

Oil Supply Crises: Cooperation and Discord in the West, by Vessela Chakarova, offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of consumer countries' policies and reactions to oil supply shortages. In addition to being a valuable source of information on oil market dynamics, it provides a deep theoretical understanding of one of the most critical issues in international relations: interstate cooperation.

This volume employs a structured, focused comparison to study European consumer countries' cooperation in times of oil supply shortages. There have been fifteen such crises since the Second World War, three of which resulted in dramatic consequences for the world economy. This analysis evaluates European cooperative efforts in seven of these cases, starting with the Abadan crisis in 1951. In particular, this study looks at intergovernmental negotiations within existing international bodies prior to, during, and immediately after a crisis. Chakarova suggests that institutions are more likely to facilitate interstate cooperation in the presence of a strong leader-a role that, in the case of oil, was assumed by the United States until the early 1970s. Cooperation during oil crises has been the subject of only a few studies, none of which provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis. Oil Supply Crises fills a significant gap in the literature on oil supply shortages and cooperation. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction

Oil: A Critical Commodity 1

Oil Crises: Is There a Risk? 2

Oil Crises and International Cooperation 5

A Dearth of Scholarship 7

The Theoretical Dilemma 8

The Empirical Conundrum 10

Oil Prices: Why Do We Care? 13

The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison 17

Chapter 2 The Theoretical Debate 21

Defining Cooperation 22

The Debate 23

International Institutions 25

Institutions in the Oil Issue-Area 27

The Security versus Economy Debate 28

The Role of the Leader 30

Conclusion 35

Chapter 3 The Suez Crisis 39

Crisis Background 40

The Oil Problem 41

The United States 43

The Organization for European Economic Cooperation 47

The Oil Committee 48

Conclusion 49

Chapter 4 The Oil Embargo-Europe "Weakened and Humiliated" 53

Crisis Background 55

The Oil Embargo 56

The United States 60

European Discord 62

International Cooperation: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Community 65

The Role of the International Oil Companies 70

Conclusion 70

Chapter 5 The Energy Crisis Is the "Moral Equivalent of War" 75

Crisis Background 76

The Oil Shortage 77

The United States 81

International Cooperation: The International Energy Agency, the European Community and the Tokyo Summit 84

Conclusion 90

Chapter 6 The Rest of the Cases 93

The Abadan Crisis 94

The Six-Day War 97

The Iran-Iraq War 102

The First Gulf War 107

Hurricane Katrina 114

Small Crises: Conclusion 115

Chapter 7 Oil Crises and Inter-state Cooperation: Is It Possible? 121

So Who Is the Winner? 121

Theoretical Implications 126

Policy Implications 128

What Does the Future Hold? 129

Concluding Thoughts 134.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739169759

0739169750

9780739169766

0739169769

OCLC:

809616036