Andrew Scott Cooper
Auteur de The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East
A propos de l'auteur
Andrew Scott Cooper holds a Ph.D. in American history and advanced degrees in strategic studies from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and in journalism from Columbia University in New York. He has worked for a number of nonprofit organizations, among them the United Nations and Human Rights afficher plus Watch. afficher moins
Œuvres de Andrew Scott Cooper
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- New Zealand
- Lieux de résidence
- Wellington, New Zealand
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Qom, Iran - Études
- Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Columbia University
University of Aberdeen - Professions
- energy analyst
- Organisations
- Middle East Institute
Membres
Critiques
Listes
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 3
- Membres
- 241
- Popularité
- #94,248
- Évaluation
- 4.3
- Critiques
- 12
- ISBN
- 15
It's generally recognized that the U.S. suffers from a conflicted policy, with dependence on Mid-East Oil from Countries which frequently express extreme anti-American, anti-Western policies. The Oil Kings describes the processes and policies which brought us to the current position. The book also provided behind-the-scenes insights into the workings of the White House and Secretary of State during those critical years.
Clearly not the book for you if you're looking for a sweet romantic novel, but excellent for what it was intended to do, i.e., provide an insiders view of the politics and policies of oil producers and oil consumers in the 1970's leading up to the status of oil policy today. Especially interesting were the insights of the powerful Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford, Henry Kissinger. Also enjoyed the portrail of the Shah of Iran, and the kind of friend he was (or was NOT) to the United States. It was also very interesting to read about the parallels of the U.S. economy during the mid-1970's compared to the end of the Bush years and beginning of the Obama years. In both times, the banks teetered on collapse, and were criticized for greedy profit-driven motives seeking high profits with little regard for the high-risks of these loans. (Apparently, no lessons learned here). Also similar are the collapse of the housing markets, falling stock market, and high unemployment in both financial hard times. It also seemed like an old story to hear about how the rising oil prices led to imperilled economies in the West, especially in Greece, Spain, Portugal (sound familiar?), etc.
To me, history can be compared to a multi-piece jig-saw puzzle, with each book providing one or two additional pieces of the puzzle. A few pieces may provide a glimpse of the shape or picture of the puzzle, but each new book completes the picture that much more. This book provides more pieces to the puzzle of the U.S. oil policy and the nations involved than expected, and fills in a lot of the blank spaces, especially how Saudi Arabia became our key ally in the region and our preferred provider of Mid-East oil, our role in the fall of the Shah of Iran, and a look at many of the back-room deals made by Nixon & Kissinger in the early 1970's.… (plus d'informations)