Blood and Oil : The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (The American Empire Project)

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Extraordinary: Cheap Oil Equals Lots of Bloodshed
Review:
I have heard this author speak to groups of international intelligence professionals, and they take him very seriously, as do I. In many ways, his books complements the one by Thomas Barnett, "The Pentagon's New Map," except that whereas Barnett says that the military must go to war to make unstable areas safe for America, Klare points out that a) we don't have enough guns or blood to stabilize a world that we antagonize every time we deploy into an "occupation" mode, and b) cheap oil is going to be very very expensive in terms of American blood on the floor.

Although I have reviewed many books about both the problems within America and its policies, as well as books optimistic about the future of America and the world, I give credit to Klare and this book for finally forcing me to realize that our federal budget and federal policies, in relation to protecting America, are "inside out and upside down." There is, and Klare documents this beautifully in relation to petroleum, a very pathological cycle that could be easily stopped. We insist on cheap oil, this leads to bloodshed and high oil prices; this comes back to lower quality of life for the workers, etc.

As Klare points out, the pipelines (and I would add the pipe to ship portals) cannot be protected. American policy makers are deceiving the public when they suggest they can stabilize the Middle East and protect cheap oil. Not only can the pipelines not be protected, but on America's current consumption path, according to Klare, the Gulf States would have to DOUBLE production to keep up with American demand.

Klare is also intellectually powerful in painting a future picture when China, Russia, and Europe are in armed competition with the USA for energy from Central Asia, Latin America, under the Spratley Islands, etcetera. As I read Klare's book, I was just shaking my head. Our policies on energy are delusional and destructive, and Klare is among the few that is providing an objective report to the public on this reality.

Klare is actually kind to the current Administration (Bush-Cheney), pointing out that they are no more or less corrupt than previous administrations going back to World War II. Cheap oil has become a mantra, and military power has become the unquestioned means of achieving that--along with supporting 44 dictators, genocide, state-sponsored terrorism (as long as we like them and we get the Jewish vote to boot).

I especially liked Klare's observation that cheap oil for the US is a major contributor to unemployment and destabilization within Arabia. Buying oil from Saudi Arabia subsidizes terrorism. Buying cheap oil from Saudi Arabia increases the number of unemployed who might be inspired to become terrorism. Hmmmm... At what real cost shall we continue to demand cheap oil?

Klare is also very effective in objectively criticizing the manner in which the US Administrations have integrated anti-terrorism initiatives with energy-protection initiatives. Bin Laden is still at large, but by golly, we have 200,000 Americans sitting on top of the Iraqi oil fields.

Klare joins Jim Bamford (Body of Secrets), Chalmers Johnson (Sorrows of Empire), Derek Leebaert (Fifty-Year Wound) and a score of other authors who have in one way or another alluded to the fact that we are now doing to China what we did to Russia after the Cold War: needlessly confronting them, scaring them, and pushing them to arm themselves. Klare focuses on our "occupation" of Central Asia, an area of direct concern and interest to China, but I would add our sending seven carriers to the Formosa Straits recently and part of the problem--reminding me of how we sent squadrons of nuclear bombers deep into the Soviet Union from the north, immediately following World War II, just to see how far we could get. WE started the arms race!

The book ends as intelligently as it begins, with emphasis on getting to a post-petroleum economy. Listing all the ways we could get there would be another book in itself, but we could start with neighborhood level solar power, more wind power, deep conservation (which must also apply to water), a gradual elimination of chlorine-based and petroleum-based industries, a turn toward self-sustainment across the board, and what Klare cites as his big three steps:

1) divorce energy purchases from security commitments---stop tolerating dictators and arming terrorist nations for the sake of cheap oil

2) reduce our reliance on imported oil, dramatically

3) prepare the way for a transition to a post-petroleum economy that includes conservation, hybrid vehicles, public transportation, the two-way energy grid that WIRED featured on its cover the same week Cheney met secretly with Enron...and so on.

Fool's gold at high moral cost. Klare makes it clear that if we do not heal ourselves from inside out, that no amount of guns, blood, or destruction will save us from the inevitable implosion of the unstable places where oil is to be found.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended reading for those who care about the future...
Review: It is unfortunate that a book such as this has to be written. One would think that intelligent beings, such as we claim to be, would long ago have realized that there is not an endless quantity of oil on this planet and that a largely petroleum-based economy, such as we are, would eventually run out of that basic resource. We should have been furiously seeking a comparative alternative, beginning many decades ago. Now we face a self-created dilemma, as Michael Klare so clearly points out in "Blood and Oil."

The United States consumes about 25% of the world's oil supply, yet the population of the United States is less than 5% of the world's total. We are, in other less-complimentary words, "oil hogs." We love energy and the benefits it provides and, unfortunately, most of the energy we consume is related in some way, directly or indirectly, to petroleum. It must be noted, however, that the day is coming when energy derived from petroleum is going to be hard to come by as sources of that "liquid gold" are depleted. And Klare provides most of the statistics one needs to consider.

Most of Klare's book is devoted to a history of the problem and its contemporary ramifications, including the current and ongoing war in Iraq. There are, for instance, a few salient points he makes at the beginning of his book which should be pondered by readers, because they address the motivation for the present military conflict that the United States is engaged in. Consider what the author says in the Preface:

"...politicians and pundits regularly deny that there is any connection between blood and oil. 'The only interest the United States has in the [Gulf] region is furthering the cause of peace and stability, not [Iraq's] ability to generate oil,' President Bush's spokesperson, Ari Fleischer, avowed in late 2002. As the drive to war accelerated, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared, 'This is not about oil, and anyone who thinks that, is badly misunderstanding the situation.' We know that such statements cannot be true -- the entire history of U.S. intervention in the Persian Gulf discredits them..."

Now, I know many people will dispute the author's conclusion that "such statements cannot be true." But one does have to ask: "Why Iraq at this time and not some other unstable region of the world or some other country ruled by a ruthless dictator." There are plenty of areas of the world where people are suffering greater hardships than Iraq was prior to U.S. intervention. I suspect that any critical reader can discern that the only thing Iraq has, outside of a lot of sand and sun, is oil. There is nothing more there to fight over. It is my opinion, upon serious reflection, that we wouldn't be the least bit interested in Iraq and its former or current regime if not for the oil. Here, I think, Klare clearly makes his point and forces us to face the question: "Are we willing to continually spill American blood for the sake of providing a comfortable living for the folks at home who insist on all the luxuries provided by a petroleum-based economy?"

And that brings me to what Klare has to say in the last chapter of his book: "How do we solve the problem?" In this chapter he asks, "How do we find our way out of this trap?" That is, how do we become less dependent on foreign oil and petroleum in general? He suggests it will call for a "paradigm shift," that is, a change in our view about energy, and he uses the recent change in attitude about smoking in public places as an example of such a paradigm shift. I submit this is a rather weak illustration since, at least as I see it, the issue of smoking in public places hardly rises to the level of a radical change in political or economic behavior. He might have been better off, perhaps, in using the institution of black slavery and the paradigm shift that occurred over many decades regarding that issue. The changing of attitudes toward slavery, both political and economic, were far more radical and, I suggest, more akin, to what the American public will face in moving from a petroleum-based economy to one that is not.

That matter aside, Klare states that solving the present problem requires progress in the following areas:

"...first, divorcing our energy purchases from our overseas security commitments; second, reducing our reliance on imported oil; and third, preparing the way for the inevitable transition to a postpetroleum economy."

Regardless of how one thinks about the petroleum-based economy we enjoy, Klare's analysis of the coming crisis is, I suspect, right on the mark. There is, after all, only so much oil to be exploited. Eventually, as he states, we will run out. Then what? What the author of "Blood and Oil" seems to be trying to do is to motivate us to take this problem seriously now -- rather than later when it may be too late to do much about it -- and to develop a strategy toward resolving the problem without resorting to the means we are currently using, that is, spilling the blood of American soldiers to protect a resource which is going to disappear anyway in the not-to-distant future. Our government officials and politicians are not being forthright with us. Are we willing to sacrifice America's long-term interests for the current political platitudes which will assure their continuing tenure in office?

Although this is not a great book, it is a timely book, and Klare, I think, forces us to think deeply about what's going on around us right now and what we may face in the near future. I would have to recommend it to all readers interested in our future and the direction our country appears to be taking. (A more comprehensive book review appears on my website at www.radicalacademy.com/bookreviewklare.htm.)

Rating:
Summary: Useful study of oil politics
Review: Resources, not differences in civilisations or identities, are behind most conflicts. Most important is oil, which drives armed forces, economies and international politics.

The US state treats oil as a matter of national security. Petroleum supplies 41% of its energy, two-thirds of it for transport (petrol fuels 97% of its transport). Since 1998, it has depended on foreign sources for over half its oil. But Europe, Russia, Japan and China also depend on foreign supplies, sharpening rivalry.

The Middle East has two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves: 25% in Saudi Arabia, 12.6% in Iran, 10.7% in Iraq, 9.3% in UAE, 9.3% in Kuwait and 1.5% in Qatar. All these countries' governments are now pro-US, except Iran. Russia and the Caspian Sea have 7.4%, the North Sea only 1.6%, Venezuela 7.4% and Nigeria 2.3%. There is also oil in Colombia, Mexico, Angola, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

A US government report of 1941 urged, "more and more aggressive foreign policy aimed at assuring access to petroleum overseas." Earlier its cloak for aggression was `anti-communism', now it is `anti-terrorism'. The US state wants all the countries that it dominates to increase their oil exports to the USA.

The capitalist road leads to more wars, permanent US occupation of the Middle East and rising terrorism. Before the attack on Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, promised, "American companies will have a big share of Iraqi oil." US forces seized Iraq's oil fields, refineries and Oil Ministry. The US state is covertly allied to the Mujehadin-e Khalq, an anti-Iranian militia based in northern Iraq.

There is an alternative. Klare urges his country to end security agreements for US access to oil, particularly with the despots ruling Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States; to end all US military intervention in the Gulf, close all its bases in the Middle East and the Caspian region. This would save American lives, cut military spending and reduce the threat of terrorism.

He also urges America to reduce its dependence on imported oil: make all vehicles more fuel-efficient, and rebuild rail systems.





Rating:
Summary: Blood and Oil; that says it all
Review: Samuel P. Huntington's influential 1993 Foreign Affairs article, "A Clash of Civilization?" claimed that the current conflicts and tensions between Arab states and the rest of the world were due to cultural differences; that ethnic, religious, clan and tribal ideologies inherently clashed with the West. But as Klare has come to conclude, the conflicts arise not out of simple cultural conflicts, but out of resources: oil. Klare agrees that such conflicts as Bosnia, Kashmir, and Chechnya bear out Huntinton's theory, but many other minor or less deadly conflicts negate that theory. Klare points out that America's partnership with such uncompromisingly Muslim states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the 1991 war with Iraq seem to point to another cause. If this were simply about cultural differences, how is it that the West is able to create alliances with certain Arab states that are most definitely in direct opposition to US culture?

Klare comes to the conclusion that the current Arab conflicts are based on oil for a number of reasons, but primarily because oil is a resource that is vital to US strength, and therefore vital for the US to secure at all costs. The equation is simple: no oil, no US. Klare notes that war over oil, a scarce resource, is plausible because of other numerous wars in which scarce or highly-prized resources were desired: Angola and Sierra Leone - control of the diamond fields; the Congo - gold and copper; in Borneo and Cambodia - timber. All of these wars were over the claim of natural resources valuable to the various countries involved. So are we any different? Klare connects the obvious dots that illuminate US intervention in the middle-east (and around the world) is simply security of oil. The exportation of democracy may be a welcome byproduct or tool for securing oil, but oil is the beginning and end of many of these conflicts as Klare points out.

The next hotbed of hostility, says Klare, is the Caspian Sea basin. This area is said to have untold reserves of both oil and natural gas (see "Crude Politics" review for more details on the quest for oil in the Caspian Sea basin: http://www.debatepoint.org/crude.htm). The problem the US will now face is three-fold, says Klare: Islamic separatists in surrounding areas (Georgia, Chechnya, etc) will provide more of the same problems faced in other Middle Eastern counties; Russia's equal interest in the rich oil supplies; and China's growing need for oil. The Islamic separatists are an obvious problem that the US will be mired in for certain. As for Russia, the US relations with Putin have been very hostile surrounding pre and post 9/11 issues, says Klare. And China is in desperate need to secure oil to its booming economy. Basically, three world powers all vying for the same oil-rich country cannot yield a peaceful result. Throw in the Islamicists, and you have a situation far worse than anything we have currently seen in previous Middle-Eastern conflicts, says Klare.

Overall, the problem of oil security is simple: the US will double or triple its oil consumption in the next 20 years. In order to satisfy this consumption, the US will need to dominate ALL of the oil-rich resources of the world. Since there are many other world powers inevitably faced with the same need for oil, military might is likely the only viable option to secure the flow of oil into US hands. As we have seen, says Klare, military dominance is already becoming exponentially expensive, dangerous, and difficult. Add the need for more oil that the world doesn't have and can't produce, add Russia requiring equal dominance, add China needing that same oil, and add Islamic separatist instability to the problem and one can quickly asses that it will be a battle that is neither cheap, easy, nor quick.

Klare does not pretend that the solution is as simple as ceasing consumption of foreign oil. Even if we tap all of our domestic and friendly oil reserves, US consumption will demand far more than these reserves could possibly provide. In order to reduce the threat of global conflict in the next 20 years, Klare suggests a major overhaul of US energy usage as the only viable option.

These solutions may be obvious, but not easy, says Klare. As Klare sees it, our only choices are more bloodshed over oil (which is certain to escalate, not plummet), or oil independence (a postpetroleum nation). The choice is obvious in my eyes. As more nations vie for oil-rich areas, and as more terrorists are formed due to civil unrest as a result of our intervention over oil, the only choice is energy independence.

Rating:
Summary: Good factual support and fairly objective
Review: The twenty-year oil trend suggests consumption increases and oil production decreases. The answer to the scarcity problem is foreign investment for technology upgrades in the Middle East increasing oil output to meet demand. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will need to double output from 22.4 to 45.2 million barrels per day by 2025 to satisfy demand. Between 2000-2020 U.S domestic production will decline by 18 percent, from 8.5 to 7 million barrels per day while imports will increase from 11 to 18.5 million barrels representing a 68% import of oil and consumption will grow by 31% between 2000-2020. Petroleum will continue to play a critical role in the U.S economy. The Nation Energy Policy will not deviate from its dependency on Middle East oil. Diversification will be limited because of political disruption and conflict: Mexico's constitution bans foreign investments in oil, Venezuela president Hugo Chavez opposes deeper American involvement, and Columbia is in a civil war; all and all, limiting oil export capability.

President Bush goal has been too promote foreign investment as a core element with engagement with major oil producers. The trend is against oil conservatism and more towards objectives gaining access for more accessible oil reserves. The government will continue to maintain close ties with private oil industry: Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Oil industry lavishly provided contributions to the Republican Party to protect oil interests.

The cold war provided opportunity for U.S dominance in the Gulf region. The main objective has been to protect the strait of Horumuz and gain control of Middle East. A long history of U.S military intervention has provided security for Saudi Arabia against its enemies. Currently, Saudi is the most prized jewel of the Middle East and U.S dominance equates superiority through military strength and preserves control of the flow of oil.

After 9/11 the Bush administration devised a strategy for dominance in the Persian Gulf. First, military intervention was required by abandoning bases in Saudi and invading Iraq to remove Saadam's regime. Second, opening regimes friendly to foreign investment. And third, increasing government involvement to boost Persian Gulf exports. Wars in Iraq has had the net effect of reducing oil production too 2.5 million barrels per day from a high of 6 million barrels before the war. Iraq's know reserve surpasses 112.5 billion barrels with more potential oil to discoverable; Iran's known reserve totals 89.7 billion barrels; and Saudi's know reserve exceeding 265 billion barrels. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and United Emirates have 658 billion barrels of know reserve and represent 63% of the known reserve. By 2025, Middle Eastern oil production will reach 47.9 million barrels per day.

Dependency on Gulf producers means there will be no end to reliance on Middle Eastern oil. Middle eastern oil will remain central on American foreign policy objectives. There is no guarantee that the Middle East producers will raise output to meet demand. The Persian Gulf producers will spend $525 million on new equipment technology and Saudi will need to double its production by 2020. The only way to production is too allow foreign investment or increase oil production in Iraq.

Why is the oil technology slowing down oil production? Sanctions were dropped but bans blocking technology remained in effect. These upgrades were necessary to sustain production levels capable of meeting demand. However, as production slides urgency become more real for new oil extraction technology, in Saudi. Iraq needs $7 billion dollars to boost oil production to 3.5 million barrels per day and $20 billion to hit 5.5 million barrels per day. The need for foreign investment is fungible.

There is no proof that increased security has equated too an increase of foreign investment. Foreign policy suggests National Interest is equated to freedom. Security in the Middle East becomes a statement of freedom because it protects National Interest. Military strength protects national interest and thus freedom.

The Einsenhower doctrine stated that congress authorized the President combat forces to defend the Middle East; 1957 Saudi received a boost in military assistance for its Army and Air Force plus additional consignments of weapons and strengthening the Saudi Arabian National Guard. In 1972 when Saudi's border was threatened by Yemen civil war, Kennedy sent in troops. The Nixon Doctrine through the 1960s enhanced the strength of Iran and Saudi Arabia providing billions of dollars of advanced weaponry. Iran received 190 F-4s, 80 F-14s, and 460 M-60A1. Saudi received 60 F-15, 200 AH-1S helicopters, and 250 M-60AT tanks. By 1971, 4140 military advisors were sent to Iran and 6250 military advisors sent to Saudi. The Reagan doctrine continued the military build up expending $8.5 billion dollars: 5 AWACS, 7 K-135 Tankers, and 660 Side-Winder missiles. The Middle East Balance of Power was making U.S allies more capable of defending themselves.

China also faces the fear of foreign dependency in the Middle East. By 2020, China oil consumption will hit 13 million barrel per day. China's security objects are 1. to develop new field for oil. 2. Establish a significant presence in oil producing regions 3. and diversify import of oil source. China leaders are uncomfortable with the fact U.S is prominent power in the Middle East fearing the U.S may cut off flows of oil to China. China vulnerabilities include lack of Naval capabilities to protect shipments of oil and passages dominated by Navy power.

China's crude is expected to rise from 48 percent in 1997 to 81 percent by 2010. China seeks to secure opportunities in: Sudan, Thailand, Venezuela, Yemen, Oman, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Angola, Burma, Ecuador, Egypt, and Indonesia. China is considered to be an important trading partner and a partner in the fight against terror. There are over 300 million Chinese making over $2,000 and private auto growth between 20-30%. China is accelerating the production of every type of energy: oil, coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, and nuclear. Coal supplies China more energy than oil currently.


Rating:
Summary: The Great Game Redux
Review: This book is a valuable contribution. The book asserts that competition for petroleum has replaced ideology as a major source for international conflict. The book evokes a feeling that Thomas Malthus, who was a pessimistic philosopher and writer on population in Victorian England, is a more reliable guide to present times than Karl Marx, Von Hayek or Francis Fukuyama. I am sure you will have the same feeling than you put down this book. The Great Game is back with the vengeance. The world stage has been set for Malthusian wars of scarcity. But the scarce resource is no longer food, but fossil fuel, commonly known as oil.
The book surpasses in insight numerable writings by so-called geo-politicians in explaining the present conflict. As a Russia's casual observer, I can tell you that it is a better guide for understanding interaction between Russia and US than writings of Zbignew Brzezinski, who writes from an outdated ideological point of view, thus clouding the issues. To my view, the era of ideology ended with Soviet Union voluntarily dismantling its empire in 1991. Many other authors try to introduce a crude racial point of view. `Expansionism is in the Russian DNA' (George Will, a US commentator). This is, of course, nonsense. The key aspects of this new Great Game are 1) control and access to world oil routs, and 2) which power will dominate the Caspian basin region, the new oil Mecca. Even before the celebrated Cheney energy report was published in May 2001, underscoring the importance of the Caspian as an alternative to Persian Gulf, the Clinton administration blessed in 1999 plans for creation of BTC pipeline, going from Baku to Tbilisi to Ceyhan, thus surpassing Russia. Although Russians immediately realized that they are being elbowed out, it took a few years to cement the Russian point of view that the US is trying to supplant Russia as a dominant power in the Caspian basin, Russia's historic domain. The consequent events in Georgia, from Russian point of view, confirmed it. The US has established an unofficial military base there. The new Georgian leader, a Columbia-educated lawyer, came to power (as the Russians see it) with American help and lavish monetary contribution. The only difference in what some see as unavoidable US expansion in the region is ambitions of the new power - China. China's growing thirst for petroleum makes the American position difficult, almost untenable. More, China and Russia are uniting to counteract US presence, particularly in the Caspian basin by courting Kazakhstan. Current US involvement in Ukraine will, in my view, push Russia further into China's embrace. The Chinese leaders understand that most of the world flow of oil is now guaranteed not by OPEC or 'world market' but by US military. That, in addition to growing presence of US bases in Central Asia, makes the Chinese very uneasy.
China and Russia are now also indirectly challenging US in Persian Gulf (which has become virtually an American protectorate) by selling advanced arms and technologies to Iran.
But the US is up a creek there even without China-Russia alliance. The author alludes that Cheney report is a key to understand the US invasion of Iraq. This report basically said that US future demand for foreign oil will be huge and getting it won't be easy. Unless the US takes drastic measures now, it can miss the boat. The scope of US dependence of foreign petroleum is truly staggering. More, to compensate falling domestic extraction and growing demand for oil, US will need to export 18.5 million barrels per day in 2020 - the number equivalent of current consumption by India and China combined. The fact that Indian and Chinese consumption of petroleum is growing even faster probably means that we will see even more ferocious struggle for oil in the coming years. We will probably look back at the twentieth century as a time of peace. This book is truly a food for thought.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money.
Review: This book should come with a warning label: Blood and Oil is a waste of energy.

Klare provides an edifying survey of the roots of US dependency on foreign petroleum. He covers the nature of the dilemma and our economic addiction to oil, and makes a convincing case for the need to change in the first two chapters.
Just when I was primed for multiple chapters on how to escape this dilemma, he launches into a politically biased four-chapter page-filling tangent.
Sadly it isn't until the last fourteen pages of the book that he gets to what I had hoped would be the meat of this book - how to escape the dilemma of dependency.
He begins by saying we need a "paradigm shift" - well, DUH! And, then he offers a conflicted contradiction of trivial ideas that amount to:
1) Don't support repugnant dictatorships for oil,
2) Reducing our dependency on foreign oil - again, DUH! - using less SUVs and more hybrid/electric vehicles. And as a finale,
3) We must hasten our transition to a post-petroleum economy. This covers a whopping four; count `em, four pages and provides simplistic suggestions with few details of how to accomplish them. I got the book to discover this and it disappoints.
It's insulting to spend hard-earned money to find out the book was an excuse to make a few bucks.

Save your money. Walk over to the library and do your share to save the oil used to deliver it to your house.


Rating:
Summary: Informative And Well Documented
Review: This book, by Michael Klare, goes into much detail explaining how conservative leaders and think tanks have not only led us into a disastrous war in Iraq, but in addition have set the United States on a course to actually import more and more oil from unstable and despotic foreign countries in the future. Before the latest Iraqi war I did'nt believe the war was about oil, perhaps it was a side issue, but Klare goes into much detail here, illustrating the fact the war is primarily about securing a large and continuous oil supply for the United States. It is true, as Klare points out, that Presidents since FDR have placed a high value on Middle East oil, but the Bush administration has taken intervention to a new and dangerously high level. Several documents are referred to by Klare, one very important one was by the National Energy Policy Development Group, in 2001, headed by none other than Dick Cheney. This group gives full support to the use of the military of the United States to secure foreign oil sources, only giving lip service to alternate energy development, and almost nothing to conservation measures including raising CAFE standards. I have to say that I find this amazingly short sighted. Now that President Bush and his 'advisors' have gotten us into an endless resource war in Iraq it is evident to any thinking person that we are in a mess with nearly no end. In addition, our military, in their 'precision' strikes, have, as of 10-04, killed an estimated 21,500 Iraqi civilians, to me this is atrocious and another reason the terrorists have been able to easily recruit people. Klare goes into detail how we join forces with despotic regimes around the world in search of additional supplies of oil, and this includes the House Of Saud. As a result of this, Klare points out, and with the stationing of U.S. troops on sacred Middle Eastern soil, we have invited the fury and hate of many, many Arabs, this cannot but end badly. Klare states that this policy of using the military to rely more and more on foreign supplies of oil may lead to price shocks, supply interruptions, and in a worst case blackmail. And of course an unending stream of terrorist attacks against U.S. interests all over the world.

I found the last chapter of this book to be the most interesting, however. Here, Klare presents a somewhat detailed outline of what we can do to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Of course, conservation plays a big role, including raising the Cafe standards for cars and light trucks, and eventually for heavy trucks as well. Alternate energy sources must be developed. And we should, in the future, refrain, Klare points out, in supporting corrupt regimes around the world just for the sake of their oil, this alone will give us much more credibility in the world. We have squandered hundreds of billions of dollars in useless and counter-productive military adventures, Klare gives us ideas of how we can do better.

This book is largely about the geo-political aspects of the global supply of oil. For a comprehensive treatise on the impending peak of the global production of oil read HUBBERT'S PEAK by Kenneth Deffeyes, and THE PARTY'S OVER by Richard Heinberg.