Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security
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.

"1100601695"
Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security
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.

25.95 In Stock
Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security

Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security

by Ian Rutledge
Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security

Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security

by Ian Rutledge

Paperback(Revised ed.)

$25.95 
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Overview

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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781845113193
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 11/12/2006
Edition description: Revised ed.
Pages: 296
Product dimensions: 5.15(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

Ian Rutledge is an energy economist and an energy business consultant. He has also lectured at Sheffield University and has published widely on world oil and gas markets, petroleum taxation and oil and gas company corporate strategy.

Table of Contents

1. Oil and America 2. The Die is Cast 3. How America Got Control of the Gulf 4. Energy Security and the Gulf: From Solution to Problem 5. The Axis of Oil 6. Energy Security Begins at Home 7. Canada, Venezuela and Mexico: A Hemispheric Solution? 8. The Caspian and Central Asia: A New Middle East? 9. America the Motorised 10. The Looming Crises 11. Oil and Islamism 12. A War for Oil

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