Tag: Oil

China & the Axis of the Sanctioned

The decline in U.S. diplomatic influence in the Middle East reflects not just Chinese initiatives, writes Juan Cole, but Washington’s incompetence, arrogance and double-dealing over three decades in the region. 

Behind the Saudi Oil-Price Gambit

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia is wielding its oil weapon by keeping production high and prices low all the better to punish some rivals and consolidate market share but the gambit may come back to bite the House of Saud, as Andrés Cala…

The Oil-Crash Diplomatic Mirage

Official Washington’s latest “group think” is that the drop in oil prices will bring Russia and Iran to their knees ready to do whatever the U.S. demands. But this analysis is a miscalculation that could cause President Obama to miss…

Iraq and the Oil Wars

Oil has always been part of U.S. decision-making on Iraq, a key motive for the 2003 invasion and the bloody occupation that followed. Now, as President Obama returns U.S. forces to Iraq, the issue of oil has bubbled back to the surface,…

Oil Supplies Remain US Focus

Despite rhetorical suggestions about a shift in U.S. geopolitical strategy, the pre-placement of military stockpiles indicates that America’s security interests will remain focused on protecting oil supplies, writes the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland.