This week completes Part III of the module as well as our two-part examination of the political economy of oil and its impact on the politics of the region. We continue to explore the relationship between Islam, militarism, and violence on which the international oil economy has depended, particularly in the context of a new post-World War II petroleum order followed by a 'crisis' or shift in this system after 1973-74. We consider in detail how oil has shaped the politics of Saudi Arabia and Iran in the broader context of key periods of transformation in the political economy of oil in the 20^thcentury. We reconnect these concerns to the overarching theme of Part III concerning fossil fuels and global climate change.

[LECTURE SLIDES]

Seminar Questions:

What are the key transformative moments in the political economy of oil?

How do oil companies shift strategy over time? Are they a new form of empire?

How can we explain different trajectories of oil in Iran and Saudi Arabia and state development?

How did the rise of OPEC and the 1973-74 oil price rise transform the relationship between producer countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, the multinational corporations, and the US government?

What is different about the post-WWII petroleum order (1950s/1970s)?

Readings:

Timothy Mitchell, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil (Verso, 2011): chapters 7-8. [ebook]

Nikkie Keddie, Modern Iran (Yale University Press, 2006): chapters 7, 9-10. [ebook]

Recommended Readings:

Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Robert Solow, ‘The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics,’ American Economic Review 64(2) (May 1974): 1-14.