THE USE OF THE OIL WEAPON IN CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: IS THERE A NEW ARAB OIL EMBARGO IN THE AMERICAN FUTURE?
Abstract of a Proposed Research Paper
The first Arab Oil Embargo against Western nations occurred in 1973, and a second embargo occurred in 1979. These oil embargos had dual motivations. In both 1973 and 1979, the foreign policy of Western nations towards the Middle East played and important role. In 1973, another important factor involved the efforts of the oil producing nations to gain full control over their resources from the multinational oil companies and, in turn, from Western nations, especially the United States. The 1979 oil embargo coincided with the fall of the government of the Shah in Iran, and both political and economic motivations were relevant in the conduct of the embargo.
Moving forward to the 21st century, the citizenry of Arab oil producing nations generally feel rage toward the United States because of generally uncritical American support for Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Saudi ArabiaÆs leaders proclaim publicly that they will not use the so-called oil weapon. The United States, however, is more dependent on foreign oil in 2002 than it was in the 1970s. Major differences between the situation in 2002 and the situation in the 1970s, however, are that (1) the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is not a strong in 2002 as it was in the 1970s and (2) the United States has other source of oil [e.g., Colombia, where the United States is supporting a government in its fight against rebels, and Russia, a country in dire need of the revenues generated by oil exports].
The proposed research paper will examine the international oil production and consumption environment in 2002 within a framework of international relations in 2002 to assess the likelihood of ability of oil producing countries to use the oil weapon effectively against the United States. ...