The Oil Kings, Andrew Scott Cooper
The Oil Kings, Andrew Scott Cooper
3 Rating(s)
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

The Oil Kings
How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East

Author: Andrew Scott Cooper

Narrator: Rob Shapiro

Unabridged: 19 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/09/2011


Synopsis

struggling with a recession . . . European nations at risk of defaulting on their loans . . . A possible global financial crisis. It happened before, in the 1970s.

Oil Kings is the story of how oil came to dominate U.S. domestic and international affairs. As Richard Nixon fought off Watergate inquiries in 1973, the U.S. economy reacted to an oil shortage initiated by Arab nations in retaliation for American support of Israel in the Arab- Israeli war. The price of oil skyrocketed, causing serious inflation. One man the U.S. could rely on in the Middle East was the Shah of Iran, a loyal ally whose grand ambitions had made him a leading customer for American weapons. Iran sold the U.S. oil; the U.S. sold Iran missiles and fighter jets. But the Shah’s economy depended almost entirely on oil, and the U.S. economy could not tolerate annual double-digit increases in the price of this essential commodity. European economies were hit even harder by the soaring oil prices, and several NATO allies were at risk of default on their debt.

In 1976, with the U.S. economy in peril, President Gerald Ford, locked in a tight election race, decided he had to find a country that would sell oil to the U.S. more cheaply and break the OPEC monopoly, which the Shah refused to do. On the advice of Treasury Secretary William Simon and against the advice of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Ford made a deal to sell advanced weaponry to the Saudis in exchange for a modest price hike on oil.
Ford lost the election, but the deal had lasting consequences. The Shah’s economy was destabilized, and disaffected elements in Iran mobilized to overthrow him. The U.S. had embarked on a long relationship with the autocratic Saudi kingdom that continues to this day.

Andrew Scott Cooper draws on newly declassified documents and interviews with some key figures of the time to show how Nixon, Ford, Kissinger, the CIA, and the State and Treasury departments—as well as the Shah and the Saudi royal family— maneuvered to control events in the Middle East. He details the secret U.S.-Saudi plan to circumvent OPEC that destabilized the Shah. He reveals how close the U.S. came to sending troops into the Persian Gulf to break the Arab oil embargo. The Oil Kings provides solid evidence that U.S. officials ignored warning signs of a potential hostage crisis in Iran. It discloses that U.S. officials offered to sell nuclear power and nuclear fuel to the Shah. And it shows how the Ford Administration barely averted a European debt crisis that could have triggered a financial catastrophe in the U.S. Brilliantly reported and filled with astonishing details about some of the key figures of the time, The Oil Kings is the history of an era that we thought we knew, an era whose momentous reverberations still influence events at home and abroad today.

About The Author

Andrew Scott Cooper is a famous historian and trusted commentator on the relations between the United States and Iran. In addition to his great knowledge regarding global diplomacy, Cooper is also a specialist in the global energy markets and political and economic risk. His books include The Oil Kings: How the US, Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East and The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Last Days of Imperial Iran. Cooper holds degrees from Columbia University, the University of Aberdeen, and Victoria University.Rob Shapiro is a voice actor, narrator, musician, and writer. In his spare time, he is working on his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Obied

ما رأيت أخبث من السياسة وأهلها يمكن اعتبارها ورقة بحث موثقة لكل كلمة فيها حيث يذكرمن أي المصادر أخذ معلومته بشكل أعطى ورقة البحث أو ورقة العمل هذه مزيدا من الرصانة لا عجب مما ذكر فيها من مخاتلات السياسين فهذا أمر معروف , و بسبب زخم التفاصيل على قلة عدد الصفحات مع التوثيق الجيد أعطاني ذلك دافعا لأبحث أ......more

Goodreads review by Aloha

The premise for Andrew Scott Cooper’s book debut The Oil Kings is how oil has affected the shift of power, with an underlying cautionary note that it can still do so. He noted that the events at the time the book was published in 2011 reflect the events over thirty years ago that caused the toppling......more

Goodreads review by Trish

It seems a pity, when a person is so involved with a subject, that they cannot convey a better understanding of the issues with which they are so entranced. We get every flicker of the eyelash of persons ensconced in the Nixon White House conducting foreign policy with regards to the Shah Pahlavi of......more

مراجعة لتاريخ مضى ولكنه لا يزال يؤثر في حياتنا، أنه التاريخ الذي عشناه يا سادة. تاريخ أحداث والأهم من ذلك تاريخ انفعالات وعواطف وعلاقات بشر مثلنا، لكنهم في مكانة ارفع منا. هذا الكتاب هو مبحث وتحقيق تاريخي مفصل في العلاقة السرية بين أمريكا وإيران والسعودية. إنها العلاقة السرية التي جعلت أسعار السلعة ا......more

Goodreads review by Said

أحد أجمل الكتب التي قرأتها مؤخرا، سواء من حيث المعلومة أو من حيث الترجمة. الكتاب يحكي باختصار قصة الشاه وعلاقته بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية: كيف بنيت ووثقت العلاقة ثم كيف انهارت وانهار معها نظام الشاه أخطاء الشاه هي نفسها أخطاء الحكام في الدول الملكية، إنهاك للميزانية وصرف مبالغ فيه في الشؤون العسكري......more