Oil Money

M. Wight David

Description

In Oil Money, David M. Wight offers a new framework for understanding the course of Middle East-US relations during the 1970s and 1980s: the transformation of the US global empire by Middle East petrodollars. During these two decades, American, Arab, and Iranian elites reconstituted the primary role of the Middle East within the global system of US power from a supplier of cheap crude oil to a source of abundant petrodollars, the revenues earned from the export of oil.In the 1970s, the United States and allied monarchies, including the House of Pahlavi in Iran and the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia, utilized petrodollars to undertake myriad joint initiatives for mutual economic and geopolitical benefit. These petrodollar projects were often unprecedented in scope and included multibillion-dollar development projects, arms sales, purchases of US Treasury securities, and funds for the mujahedin in Afghanistan. Although petrodollar ties often augmented the power of the United States and its Middle East allies, Wight argues they also fostered economic disruptions and state-sponsored violence that drove many Americans, Arabs, and Iranians to resist Middle East-US interdependence, most dramatically during the Iranian Revolution of 1979.Deftly integrating diplomatic, transnational, economic, and cultural analysis, Wight utilizes extensive declassified records from the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations, the IMF, the World Bank, Saddam Hussein's regime, and private collections to make plain the political economy of US power. Oil Money is an expansive yet judicious investigation of the wide-ranging and contradictory effects of petrodollars on Middle East-US relations and the geopolitics of globalization.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History of the Middle East
• International relations
• Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781501715747
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

Oil Money

A VO LU M E I N T H E S E R I E S

THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD Series Editors: Benjamin A. Coates, Emily ConroyKrutz, Paul A. Kramer, and Judy TzuChun Wu Founding Series Editors: Mark Philip Bradley and Paul A. Kramer

A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Oil Money

MiddleEastPetrodollarsandtheTransformation of US Empire, 1967–1988

David M. Wight

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2021 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2021 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Wight, David M., 1985– author. Title: Oil money : Middle East petrodollars and the transformation of  US empire, 1967–1988 / David M. Wight. Identifiers: LCCN 2020042677 (print) | LCCN 2020042678 (ebook) |  ISBN 9781501715723 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501715747 (pdf ) |  ISBN 9781501715730 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Petroleum industry and trade—Political aspects. |  United States—Foreign economic relations—Middle East—History—  20th century. | Middle East—Foreign economic relations—  United States—History—20th century. Classification: LCC HD9560.6 .W54 2021 (print) | LCC HD9560.6  (ebook) | DDC 337.7305609/045—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020042677 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020042678

Cover photograph: President Richard M. Nixon shaking hands with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Riasa Palace, July 15, 1974. Photograph by Robert L Knudsen. Courtesy of National Archives and Records Service.

ForMom,Dad,Michelle,Layla,andClara

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations

Contents

Introduction  1. Oil, US Empire, and the Middle East  2. The Road to the Oil Shock  3. Pursuing Petrodollar Interdependence  4. The Triangle to the Nile  5. The Petrodollar Economy  6. Visions of Petrodollar Promise and Peril  7. Reform and Revolt  8. Revolution and Invasions  9. Recoveries and Crises 10. End of an Era Conclusion

Notes Bibliography Index

viii x

1 10 31 60 85 108 136 170 195 225 252 278

289 325 339

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the support of numerous peopleandinstitutions;Iamindebtedtoallofyou. This project originated at the Department of History of the University of California Irvine, continued within the postdoctoral programs at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, and was completed at the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The final prod uct was only possible through not only the financial support of these institutions but also the intellectual engagement of their faculty and students. Additionally, this research received support from the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grant, the Kugelman Research Fellowship from the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations’ Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Fellowship and Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Special mention must go to Emily Rosenberg, who provided unsurpassed inspiration and guidance for this project. The early faith and ongoing advice of Michael McGandy and Mark Bradley at Cornell University Press in the potential of this book also sustained my writing over the years. More scholars than I can name have exchanged ideas and provided feedback about chapters that has immeasurably improved the final product of my research. Special thanks goes to Noel Anderson, Mary Barton, Thomas Borstelmann, Suparna Chaudhry, Sean Fear, Udi Greenberg, Eric Hundman, Sabrina Karim, Mark LeVine,

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S ix

Shanon Fitzpatrick, Fredrik Logevall, Erez Manela, Edward Miller, Jennifer Miller, Amy Offner, Anne Parsons, Robert Rakove, Daniel Sargent, Kristina Shull, Thomas Sizgorich, Jennifer Graham Staver, Thomas Storrs, Annessa Stag ner Stulp, Stephen Walt, Odd Arne Westad, William Wohlforth, Salim Yaqub, Amina Yassine, Thomas Zeiler, and an anonymous reviewer. Greatthanksarealsoduetothemanyarchiviststhatprovidedinvaluable assistance to me during my research. The countless people who extended their welcome or a friendly conversation while I traveled for research have my heart felt thanks as well. To all of my family and friends, thank you for your support and for providing muchneeded breaks from the research and writing process. A special note of thanks to my family in Lebanon and the American Research Center in Egypt is due for their exceptional hospitality. To Mom and Dad, thank you for the immeasurable love, education, support, and opportunities you have provided me. To Layla and Clara, thank you for brightening the fi nal years of writing with your smiles and wonder. My greatest thanks are reserved for my wife, partner, and best friend, Mi chelle. You invested in and sacrificed more for this project than anyone. Your love and support made this book possible, and I am forever grateful.