This week we commence our two-part examination of the political economy of oil and its impact on the politics of the region. We explore the relationship between Islam, militarism, and violence on which the international oil economy has depended. We consider in detail how the political economy of oil has shaped the politics of Saudi Arabia and Iran.

[LECTURE SLIDES]

Seminar Questions:

When was oil discovered and developed in the Middle East?

In what ways does Mitchell reconfigure the 'usual story of oil in the Middle East'?

What does Vitalis mean by ‘American exceptionalism’ and how does the oil corporation factor in his account?

How did the structure and resources of Saudi Arabia and Iran compare in the 1930s (was there a centralized long-established state?

How did WWII alter in each country the role of outside powers, in particular the US?

What was the outcome of the 1951-53 oil nationalization crisis in Iran? How did this outcome compare with the postwar role of Aramco in shaping the development of Saudi Arabia?

What oppositional movements emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s and how were their demands for political or economic reform addressed?

Readings:

Robert Vitalis, ‘Black Gold, White Crude: An Essay on American Exceptionalism, Hierarchy, and Hegemony in the Gulf,’ Diplomatic History 26(2) (Spring 2002), pp. 185-213.

Timothy Mitchell, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil (Verso, 2011): chapter 2 ‘Prize from Fairyland’. [ebook]

Ervand Abrahamian, ‘The 1953 Coup in Iran,’ Science and Society 65(2) (Summer 2001), pp. 185-215

Recommended Readings:

Robert Vitalis, America’s Kingdom: Myth-making on the Saudi Oil Frontier (Stanford University Press, 2006) [updated version by Verso 2009 at Warwick Library].

Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution (Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 73-104, 105-131 (chps. 5-6).

Katayoun Shafiee, Machineries of Oil (MIT Press, 2018).