Petropolitics and the American Foreign Policy

Petropolitics and the American foreign policy:
Understanding the procedural mechanics of how oil dependence influences US foreign policy making

United States is said to be overly dependent on the oil producing countries for its energy needs and that it bases its major policy decision on this consideration. Though not the sole causal factor for American foreign policy making, it is cited to be one of the more influential factors, whereby many a US dictum have followed this line of action. Those who analyze this relationship look at the American dealings with such oil rich countries as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and propose that the presence of oil resources in these countries and American economic dealings with them determines the course of action that the united sates takes in relation to them, this in turn is having a catastrophic effect through a phenomenon which the former president Bush explained as America’s addiction to oil. American need to fuel and refuel its growth has led it to make some very drastic policy decisions and those have led to many questionings of the basic tenants of American foreign policy making because the pursuit of oil is understood by many as the tacit and covert motive followed by the American policy makers. This paper will outline the important facets of united state’s foreign policy and how is it shadowed by the insidious desire of acquisition of oil, also the determining factors for the favorable tilt towards oil producing countries and the effect that is having on world affairs will be explored.

Introduction:

In 1945 president Franklin D. Roosevelt ensured the Saudi king of protection in exchange for a special access to Saudi oil,[1] in 1980 President Jimmy Carter while emphasizing the importance of a steady flow of crude oil to the united states said that it was in the vital interests of the united sates of America to ensure a steady flow of oil from the middle east and that America would use “any means necessary,...