Description
Book SynopsisDo countries fight wars for oil? Given the resource''s exceptional military and economic importance, most people assume that states will do anything to obtain it. Challenging this conventional wisdom, The Oil Wars Myth reveals that countries do not launch major conflicts to acquire petroleum resources. Emily Meierding argues that the costs of foreign invasion, territorial occupation, international retaliation, and damage to oil company relations deter even the most powerful countries from initiating classic oil wars. Examining a century of interstate violence, she demonstrates that, at most, countries have engaged in mild sparring to advance their petroleum ambitions.
The Oil Wars Myth elaborates on these findings by reassessing the presumed oil motives for many of the twentieth century''s most prominent international conflicts: World War II, the two American Gulf wars, the IranIraq War, the Falklands/Malvinas War, and the Chaco War. These case studies show that
Trade Review
Meirerding's book is a great contribution to the literature on international relations. The book is an important read for historians, political scientists, and international relations experts interested in the connection, or lack of, between key commodities and natural resources, and interstate conflicts.
* H-Net Reviews *
Meierding's, The Oil Wars Myth [is an] admirable and well-researched book, therefore, challeng[ing] many existing assumptions about the nexus between international security, petroleum resources, and the likelihood of conflict and wars.
* H-Diplo *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Blood and Oil
1. From Value to Violence: Connecting Oil and War
2. Explaining the Oil Wars Myth: Mad Max and El Dorado
3. Why Classic Oil Wars Do Not Pay
4. Searching for Classic Oil Wars
5. Red Herrings: The Chaco and Iran–Iraq Wars
6. Oil Spats: The Falkland/Malvinas Islands Dispute
7. Oil Campaigns: World War II
8. Oil Gambit: Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait
Conclusion: Petro-Myths and Petro-Realities
