At the beginning of the 21st Century, a new world disorder is emerging in which battles over resources are playing an increasingly prominent role. The importance of oil to this picture is underscored by the unilateral and militaristic foreign policy of the world’s largest power in its attempt to secure access to this critical resource. In this context, oil-rich communities of the global South are being drawn into struggles to defend their sovereignty, cultural integrity, human rights and threatened ecosystems.
Crude Interventions examines the socio-economic and human rights consequences of the policies of recent U.S. administrations and multinational energy companies for the peoples of oil producing nations in the global South. With only four percent of the world’s population, the United States consumes 25 per cent of global energy production. This thirst for energy has played a significant role in determining U.S. foreign policy in recent decades.
By focusing on the U.S. role in Iraq, Central Asia, West Africa, Colombia and Venezuela, Crude Interventions makes evident the connections between U.S. energy interests, the war on terror, globalization, human rights abuses and other social injustices endured by those peoples of the global South cursed with an abundance of the world’s most sought after resource.
Reviews
“Excellent and timely” ― Noam Chomsky
“Garry Leech’s book is not a book about oil so much as what the United States does in the world in order to control it. Leech’s clear and succinct style … opens the door to seeing one of the world’s most urgent issues in context, and from the point of view of some of those who suffer the most.” – ZNet
“In this useful book, journalist and lecturer Garry Leech shows how oil, not concern for promoting democracy drives the U.S. to intervene in countries across the world. He looks at the damaging effects of U.S. interventions in the Middle East, Central Asia, West Africa and Latin America.” ― Will Podmore, Morning Star
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Author: Garry Leech
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: September 2006
Paperback, 256 pages
ISBN: 1842776290
Garry Leech 