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The Oil Kings Cooper en 15522 - PDF
The Oil Kings Cooper en 15522 - PDF
How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle
East
Focus Take-Aways
Leadership & Management • In 1969, Persian Gulf nations delivered one-third of the developed world’s oil.
Strategy
Sales & Marketing
• To secure oil supplies through the volatile Gulf region, President Richard Nixon’s
Finance
administration promoted the “Nixon Doctrine.”
Human Resources • The Nixon Doctrine’s aim was to supply pro-US regimes, especially Iran, with arms.
IT, Production & Logistics
Career & Self-Development
• The Shah of Iran, a staunch anticommunist, spent much of his country’s oil wealth on
Small Business
military purchases.
Economics & Politics • Nixon secretly allowed Iran to raise oil prices so the Shah could buy US weapons.
Industries
Global Business
• This decision started a huge wealth transfer from the West to Middle Eastern oil nations.
Concepts & Trends • In 1972, Nixon covertly promised to supply Iran with nuclear technology.
• The US cultivated its relations with Saudi Arabia to counterbalance Iran’s growing power
and help break the 1973 Arab oil embargo.
• When Saudi Arabia broke OPEC’s ranks by opposing price increases, Iran’s economy
nose-dived.
• By 1977, rebellion exploded in Iran, leading to the Shah’s overthrow and the nation’s
subsequent turmoil. In 1980, Iran’s Emperor died in Egypt, a stateless exile.
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Recommendation
If you think the US’s alternative energy policy is forging ahead, think again. It has been
stalled for decades, largely because of US reliance on oil from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Andrew Scott Cooper, a historian and NGO activist, offers a dense presentation about the
geopolitics of oil from 1969 to 1977. He focuses on the politicians and diplomats of the
time, covering their relationships and limitations. Cooper discusses the flawed decision
making that shaped American foreign policy and the US’s dependence on foreign oil.
He tells a powerful story, much of it revealed for the first time, since he culled research
from newly declassified documents. While the book occasionally gets bogged down in
minutiae that distract from the more interesting main narrative, getAbstract recommends
it to anyone intrigued by the convoluted mechanics of oil geopolitics.
Abstract
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A Pivotal Time
String that jumps The late 1960s and early 1970s were a pivotal time in strategic world relationships,
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of the developed world’s oil. Almost all of Japan’s petroleum imports came through the
a hard man to say Gulf, as did 55% of the oil “NATO Europe” used. These trade connections made the
no to in the spring of region’s security crucial, particularly Iran’s, since much of the world’s oil moved by ship
1969.”
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String that jumps In the Persian Gulf, the US turned to its old ally, the Shah of Iran. Mohammad Reza
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“Oil was the Shah’s chagrin of the CIA and successive US presidential administrations.
greatest source of
strength and also his
Achilles’ heel.” Clandestine Dealings with the Shah
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