To what extent is US policy in the Gulf region driven primarily by Dissertation

To what extent is US policy in the Gulf region driven primarily by energy needs - Dissertation Example Retrieved from, http://schirachreport.com/index.php/2011/01/21/old-lobbies-prevent-new-energy-policies/ Teixeira, R, 2010. Public Opinion Snapshot: Public turns against offshore drilling. Centre for American progress, retrieved from, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/snapshot062810.html The Progress Report, 2010. Big giveaways to big Oil. Retrieved from, http://www.barbrastreisand.com/us/article/big-giveaways-big-oil Weiss, D. September 2010. GOP â€Å"Pledge to America† is an oath to Big Oil- written by a former EXXon lobbysist. ClimateProgress. Retrieved from, http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/23/gop-pledge-to-america-big-oil-exxon-lobbyist-brian-wild/ Literature review summary: With approximately 70 % of the global oil reserves located in the Middle Eastern regions, which includes Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq, these group of countries have formed the group of leading exporters of oil, especially in the post WWII era. Sampson, (1975) and Tanzer (1974), into their books gives us detailed insight into the pre WWII era when the oilfields were in the hands of the colonels British empire, and how slowly US took over after emerging as the chief power during the WWII. Tanzer in his book especially traces the rise of US as the main global power, the rise of strong oil companies and the formation of the famous US oil lobby, and it’s taking control over the European oil trade market. Kinzer, (2008) in his book traces the interference of US oil lobby in Iran internal politics during the 1950s to bring in the Shah of Iran (pro-US) as the head of the country, so that the oil fields would be effectively under the control of the US oil firms. Klare 2001, in his book traces the rise in strength of the US oil firms and the beginning of USA’s relentless drive to gain global energy supremacy. Cordesman (1999) gives us detailed insight into US’s ever-increasing oil consumption rate, and the governmentâ⠂¬â„¢s unceasing drive to gain energy security, which drove the US oil companies and the government to attempt to bring all the oil rich countries under their control. These books show us how US created Saudi Arabia and established its control over the oilfields, while Iraq managed to give the western countries the slip by nationalising their oil fields, which finally led to the 2003 war with Iraq. Bennett, et al. (2007), Sepehri (2002), Kay (2001) in their articles give us an insight into the true nature of the 1991 and 2003 Iraq war and the actual reason behind this war. They show very clearly, as what were conditions that ultimately led to the 2003 war, and established clear links oil firms and the Bush regime. Phillip, 2003, very categorically shows in his paper the actual nature of the war and how the oil lobbyists stood to gain from the2003 war, while various news articles in BBC, Times, and CNN also shows strong link between US oil firms, US government, US foreign polices and the US-Iraq war in 2003. Articles by Lee (2005); Weiss (2010) and Paolo Schirach (2011) show the strong link that exists between US’s ineffective energy saving policies and the connection between government officials. These articles put up figures that reveal the huge donations made by the oil firms to the Republican party, and consequent failure on the part of the US government to draw up strong energy saving policies in the last 5 decades, after the end of the WWII, when the consumption of oil suddenly became high owing to the arrival of automobiles in the US