System
Geopolitics
Energy security and Realpolitik
Geography is the most fundamental factor in foreign policy because it is the most permanent.
Geopolitics is essential for understanding international affairs and conflicts.
It shows that geography plays a crucial role in foreign policy.
Realpolitik explains which
true motives lie
behind the facade of
propaganda preached by the
power elite.
The place on earth says much about why the power elite are there. See also
power politics.
The power elite often use
moral or ethical reasons in an attempt to justify their selfish policies.
In reality international affairs have strong economic and
financial motives. Especially since the
industrial revolution energy security plays a defining role.
The extreme form of free-market capitalism has spread to all parts of the world
making the different cliques of power elite compete with each other for the
earth's resources. They make use of for example
soft power, involving media and
propaganda, and
hard power involving
militarism,
imperialism,
war,
divide and conquer,
regime changes, and more.
Cartoon depicting Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly
On August 8, 1944, the Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement was signed,
dividing Middle Eastern oil between the US and the UK.
Roosevelt said, "Persian oil... is yours. We share the oil of
Iraq and
Kuwait. As for
Saudi Arabian oil, it's ours."
Since the industrial revolution the geopolitics of energy — who supplies it, and securing reliable access to those supplies — have been a
driving factor in global prosperity and security.
Every international order in early modern and modern history is based on an energy resource.
Energy security plays a defining role in international politics.
The power elite gain their wealth and
power largely from
plundering the earth's resources.
Oil has been the world's leading source of energy since the mid-1950s.
With less than 5% of the world's population, the US consumes 25% of the world's oil production.
Oil is of extreme importance to
capitalist nations and their industries.
Dependence on resources really boomed with the industrial revolution,
a point of no return in human history. Capitalism and
consumerism demand massive quantities of oil and other resources leading to the
exploitation of the earth. The
United States is the leading capitalist nation on planet earth.
A bit of history...
Seven huge companies which have dominated the world of oil - and all our lives - since
Rockefeller's first gigantic oil monopoly.
Big Oil has also declined due to the rise of OPEC in 1960.
Even though both OPEC and the IOCs lost much control over oil pricing
due to the rise of oil trading on the NYMEX in 1983, OPEC has helped
oil-rich states with nationalized oil industries organize in order
to gain economic and political power.
The Seven Sisters, or
Big Oil, are the western oil
companies which dominated global oil extraction and sales until OPEC came into existence.
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was formed by exporting countries like
Saudi Arabia,
China,
Russia,
Brazil, Iran and Venezuela in the 1960s.
Not surprisingly many countries involved in OPEC are under attack by the
Anglo-American power elite. The
1973 oil crisis and the
1979 Energy Crisis made clear how important oil is to the
capitalist world. This led to western intervention...
Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault
on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including
military force.
US politics and oil enjoy a controversially close relationship.
The Carter Doctrine simply comes down to the self-given authorization
for plundering other nation's resources.
USAF aircrafts fly over burning Kuwaiti oil wells during Operation Desert Storm, 1991
Petrodollar Warfare examines US dollar hegemony and the unsustainable macroeconomics of
'petrodollar recycling,' pointing out that the issues underlying the
Iraq war also apply to geostrategic tensions between the
United States and other countries, including the member states of the
European Union, Iran, Venezuela and
Russia.
Examples of petrodollar wars or wars related to resources are the Iran-Iraq War, the
Gulf War, the
Iraq War, the
military intervention in Libya, etcetera. The current
new Cold War has also strong motives related to energy security.
All those aggressive interventions require a
large army.
The U.S. military is the largest institutional consumer of oil in the world
which of course makes for one huge vicious cycle.
Exercise RIMPAC
Bordered by the Pacific in the west and the Atlantic in the east, any major invasion of the continental
United States would require an enemy to control the oceans.
Without naval dominance in at least one of the oceans, transporting and supplying an attacking army would be impossible.
To prevent an amphibious invasion, America has adopted an offensive strategy of absolute naval dominance in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans,
and have invested heavily in their military.
With a massive annual military budget of $700 billion, the United States has achieved
global control over the oceans.
The Anglo-American Empire is a
military empire which is in control of more than half the globe and threatens the rest.
It makes use of its military dominance to its own benefit. It has waged many
wars related to energy security and geopolitics.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the
balance of power in the world has shifted towards the
Anglo-American Empire.
But tensions never ceased...
New Cold War
Russia and China increasingly seek to offset U.S. influence in Central Asia through enhanced cooperation ...
The United States and its
North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies play a critical role in Central Asia ...
Central Asia's geostrategic qualities keep
America strongly interested in retaining access and building co-operative, stable relations with regional states
A rising China will seek to dominate Asia, while the United States,
determined to remain the world's sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to prevent that from happening.
The logic goes like this: American military primacy should be maintained at all costs, China's rise threatens this primacy,
so the U.S. should work to "balance" against — or, broadly, contain — a rising China by surrounding it with powerful American
military capabilities, creating
NATO-like adversarial alliances,
isolating it economically, and, most recently, "imposing costs" when it does things the U.S. does not like.
Eurasia has played a defining role since long before the
Second World War.
The Anglo-American power elite have taken advantage
of the collapse of the Soviet Union by means of their superior military might and their
financial domination of the world.
NATO expanded towards the Russian border and U.S. military bases surround China.
The power elite of any
superpower will do everything in their power
to prevent others from becoming more powerful. It can do so economically, by means of for example sanctions, and
it can do so militarily, by means of for example NATO expansion or the installation of
military bases around the world. Hence the
new Cold War.
Robert D. Kaplan - The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate
Zbigniew Brzezinski - The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives
Alfred Thayer Mahan - The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
Emil Reich - Foundations of Modern Europe
Nicholas J. Spykman - America's Strategy in World Politics: The United States and the Balance of Power
F. William Engdahl - Myths, Lies and Oil Wars
Robert D. Kaplan - Geography Strikes Back
Global Issues - Geopolitics
National Security Reporting Project - Major U.S. military operations/actions to protect oil
Business Insider - Look At The Conflicts That Were And Will Be Caused By Oil
Nafeez Ahmed - Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern
Economist - The oiloholics
Videos...
Unspeak - Natural Disasters
Zbigniew Brzezinski - The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives
Alfred Thayer Mahan - The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
Emil Reich - Foundations of Modern Europe
Nicholas J. Spykman - America's Strategy in World Politics: The United States and the Balance of Power
F. William Engdahl - Myths, Lies and Oil Wars
Robert D. Kaplan - Geography Strikes Back
Global Issues - Geopolitics
National Security Reporting Project - Major U.S. military operations/actions to protect oil
Business Insider - Look At The Conflicts That Were And Will Be Caused By Oil
Nafeez Ahmed - Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern
Economist - The oiloholics
Videos...
Unspeak - Natural Disasters