Addicted to oil : America's relentless drive for energy security / Ian Rutledge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rutledge, Ian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Petroleum industry and trade--Government policy--United States.

Petroleum industry and trade.

Petroleum reserves--Iraq.

Petroleum reserves.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.)

Manufacture:

New York : Distributed by Palgrave Macmillan in the United States and Canada, 2005.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"It has long been acknowledged that in America the car is king. However, America's car-orientated and car-dependent lifestyle goes beyond the culture of fast cars and freeways. In Addicted to Oil, Ian Rutledge explores the political, economic and social ramifications of the motorisation of the US economy. He argues that America's dependence on the car has created a lifestyle leading to oil needs which have heavily influenced US foreign policy in the modern era. Rutledge traces the origins of America's addiction throughout the twentieth century and explains how America's relations with the Middle East were developed through its quest for energy security. America's motorisation and its consequent demand for oil at predictable market prices was and continues to be an important influence on US policy towards Iraq - especially given the uncertainties relating to what has so far been the securest source of Middle East oil - Saudi Arabia. Ian Rutledge argues that the war in Iraq was neither a war for 'freedom' or 'democracy' nor was it a plot to 'steal Iraq's oil', but rather an attempt to establish a pliant and dependable oil protectorate in the Middle East which would underwrite the soaring demand from America's hyper-motorised consumers. Addicted to Oil is the first book to undertake an in-depth analysis of the motorisation of US society which explicitly links it to America's foreign policy adventures, past and present. Addicted to Oil is essential reading for an understanding of America's international political priorities and its fraught relations with the Middle East."--Bloomsbury publishing.

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgements; Note on Names and Terminology; Preface; Chapter 1: Oil and America; Chapter 2: The Die is Cast; Chapter 3: How America Got Control of the Gulf; Chapter 4: Energy Security and the Gulf; Chapter 5: The Axis of Oil; Chapter 6: Energy Security Begins at Home; Chapter 7: Canada, Venezuela and Mexico; Chapter 8: The Caspian and Central Asia; Chapter 9: America the Motorised; Chapter 10: The Looming Crisis; Chapter 11: Oil and Islamism; Chapter 12: A War for Oil; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-258) and index.

ISBN:

9786612527791

9780755620265

0755620267

9781282527799

1282527797

9780857710031

0857710036

9786000008185

600000818X

9781423709442

1423709446

OCLC:

721194015

Publisher Number:

9781850436744