The Role Of Oil In The Global Political Economy
The Role Of Oil In The Global Political Economy
Oil has been distinctive as a fundamental resource due to its continuous military power centrality, and maintenance of access to areas producing oil. The world oil producing areas has been a major goal of the foreign policy of the United States since the First World War. The aim of maintaining access to overseas areas that are economically vital came with the international commencement of the United States national security interests emerging during Second World War, and they have been dominant the policy of the United States all through Cold War. The leaders in the United States wanted to bar any coalition of powers from being dominant in Asia or Europe so as to maintain the strategic supremacy of the United States. It aims at fashioning an international economic environment accessible to trade by United States, and also maintaining the incorporation of the third world in the economy.
Oil control has helped the United States to contain Soviet Union and bring to an end the disparaging economic, political and military competition among the main capitalist states. Class conflict within the capitalist core has been mitigated by promotion of economic growth and retaining access to markets, raw materials together with labor in an error of national liberation and decolonization. In addition, the calculated forces needed to maintain access to oil in overseas countries were fungible. They were being used for a different agenda in other parts of the world. Similarly, as demonstrated by Gulf War, strategic forces emanating from other world parts could have been used for helping maintaining access to oil. Therefore, there has existed a symbiotic relationship between maintenance of capabilities of power projections and reliance on strategic forces for maintaining access to overseas oil. Oil control has been a crucial element for the American supremacy.
In Steve Coll’s Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American power joins hands with the susceptible folklore of Sinclair and Tarbell. In his previous work, he had covered subjects like the history of bin Laden’s family and American policy in Afghanistan. In this current book, he documents the economic, political and global power of ExxonMobil, which is the largest privately owned oil and gas company internationally. Coll gives his story in a form of narrative of corporate life in the later era of the cold war. The choice may appear old initially, irrespective of wealth of the company. It has increased its profits tremendously in the years since the end of Cold war. Mirrored in the physical world, oil old-fashioned. Oil is compared by Coll with Google and WalMart, which are of post industrial economy. Contrastingly, ExxonMobil drills ground holes. Therefore, its operations are inescapably related to the physical territory control. In this way, Coll makes the suggestion that a different view of the contemporary economy underneath the seduction and glitz of the service industry runs oil’s river going through the bright weightlessness of the visions of nations.
In his book Coll, gives critical writing about ExxonMobil but tries avoiding a didactic tone. He aims at describing an energy company in a conflict era, when it is mandated with dealing with the public relations of things like political instability and industrial disasters. Coll states that the concerns with big oil are no longer simply its impact on political life or its status of monopoly. It is not easy to write about oil without writing mention climate change. In this sense, the corporate power account does not feel adequate, because it implicates a wide range of people.
ExxonMobil came originated from Standard Oil, the American oil giant that rose to eminence in the industry in the last years of the 19th century. It had been founded by Rockefeller, penurious and famously devout Baptist. At his childhood, Rockefeller showed single mindedness in focusing on acquisition. He constructed a giant in energy via ruthless internal financial discipline and undercutting his competitors brutally. Rockefeller had little interest in the opinion of the public, just like the other robber barons. The factories in the country needed his products, and hence he was safe even after ignoring his critics. Rockefeller was confident in the ethics of wealth accumulation, like the past and current social Darwinists. The company Rockefeller established never remained oblivion to politics in time on end. The Supreme court, in 1911, established that the Standard Oil had violated laws on antitrust and broke it up in 34 distinct firms.
The second big concern of Coll is his book is the role of ExxonMobil in international affairs. The company is faces demands to enlarge its access to oil reserves, and it is always searching for new places for drilling. This implies working with various governments in different countries to make deals of extracting oil. These relations are difficult to handle. American production of oil was basically domestic in early twentieth century. The country a net exporter of oil at that time. However, there were decisive efforts for drilling elsewhere, which resulted to political conflicts. For instance, in 1938, the government of Mexico expropriated a foreign company’s holdings, which comprised of New Jersey. In the later days of the 20th century, Exxon extended its production to different parts of the world including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela among others. It was mostly relying on the American government strength to protect its operations.
The U.S. business expansion in the other jurisdiction in the late 19th century increasingly associated to the well being and survival of the political economy of the United States globally. These issues were not restricted to fears of the physical security of the nation but it was rather related to concerns on the continued existence of a largely defined American way of life in the world that was increasing hostile. Oil companies in the United States were among the pioneers in foreign involvement, and they were initially looking for oil sources. This expansion as facilitated by the U.S. government by insisting on the policy of the open door for companies of the United States. United States was able to meet its needs of oil via domestic resources until the 1960s. However, it became a net importer of oil in the late 1940s. The united States leaders were aware they will not be able to supply its growing consumption from production of oil domestically in future. This knowledge resulted to resolve of maintaining access to the high oil producing areas, particularly in the Middle East.
Despite there been wide consensus to have policies for ensuring United States control of oil production in the world, the configuration of the oil industry in the U.S. considerably shaped specific struggles over foreign oil policy. Just like a greater part of United States industries, the oil industry was sub-divided between groups of small and medium sized companies and some multinational firms. Amongst these divisions, the competing strategies of various firms often resulted to severe conflict and efforts for enlisting government agencies as allies in the aggressive struggle. Public policies that appeared to be favoring a given group got opposition to government involvement in oil matters. Additionally, oil companies never trusted each other in regard to the democratic state prevailing throughout the American business.
The power structure within the United States has had a considerable effect on the United States response to the oil use environmental impact. Though abundant oil has helped in fuelling American prosperity and power, it also helped in entrenching social and economic patterns dependence on high levels of use of energy. There is a clear indication that oil resources are not ecologically sustainable.
Personal reflection.
At the start of the 21st century, oil was accounting for 40% of the world demand of energy. Use of energy was the primary carbon dioxide source. Due to this, environmental scientists perceived air pollution linked with the use of energy as being the main threat to climate of the earth. There are environmental effects for continuing to have a lifestyle that consumes a lot of energy. The main question for United States in relation to oil in the 21stcentury is on how to avoid unsustainable path of development. There ought to be a clear vision for an alternative source of energy especially in the face of looming disaster posed by global warming. Though has been useful from time immemorial in the daily life; there is a need to find ways of moving away from its use.
Reference
Coll, S. (2012) Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, USA: Penguin Press
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