Petrodollar operates from an unsettling thesis, that America's hegemony is based on an unstable reliance on dollar-denominated oil transactions, and that America uses military power to enforce this system on oil producing countries. The author outlays this theory quite well in the first chapter, and proceeds in subsequent chapters to interpret American foreign policy from this point of view.
The author does do a good job of proving his point. Saddam Hussein's switch to Euro based oil pricing certainly had as much influence on Bush's policies as the WMD propaganda campaign had on Americans. And one need look no further than the New American Century website to glimpse the dystopian future that neoconservatives advocate.
Despite presenting a solid argument, this book falls flat because of its pragmatism. The author seems concerned with America's military ambitions not because they are deeply disturbing from a moral standpoint, but because they are unsustainable from an economic standpoint. Attacking a foreign country unprovoked doesn't seem to be intrinsically evil; it merely fails to keep Americans secure because it causes worldwide resentment and foments terrorism. Unilateral military operations aren't an affront to humanity, but they are likely to alienate our allies--potentially making them consider using the Euro as a reserve currency, which will prevent America from using other countries to fund it's unsustainable trade deficits.
Ironically, the author clearly illustrates the ineffectiveness of military-industrial-government intervention in international markets, yet his solution is... Government intervention in international currency markets. Military efforts have been unsuccessful, so perhaps we can appeal to the kindness of Europeans to value their Euro at a 1 to 1 parity with the dollar. "Now there's an idea!" Let Bernanke print all the money he wants while the Germans scrimp and save. But don't let market forces do anything to preserve the value of hard work represented by the Euro. Government fiat, not honest hard work, will save us!
"If Americans make the mistake of letting the invisible hand of the market decide this issue, we would be condemning millions of people in our nation and in the world community to a life of poverty, suffering, and death... The resulting market failure would create escalations in the price of virtually everything, and certain critical items, such as food, would soon become too expensive for a large segment of society." Right. George Bush wishes he thought of that.
"The most effective method to mitigate such destabilizing global events would be to systematically pursue, through the UN, multilateral reform of the global monetary system, and agreements regarding petroleum and natural gas consumption, access, and pricing mechanisms". Wow! Such confidence raw power required for such a massive undertaking as centralized control of the international economy might have made Stalin blush.
| Publisher | New Society Publishers (May 1, 2005) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 288 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0865715149 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0865715141 |
| Item Weight | 15.4 ounces |
| Dimensions | 6 x 1 x 9 inches |
