[Peakoil] (no subject)
Antony Barry
tony at tony-barry.emu.id.au
Sun Jan 21 14:58:57 EST 2007
From: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5398
The return of geo-politics
By Peter McMahon - posted Friday, 19 January 2007
.... Nobody seriously doubts that Peak Oil (the point where as much
oil as has been produced is available in reserves) is at hand, that
oil will become ever more scarce and that prices will rise steeply.
The oil companies know it and governments know it.
Oil is not only the lifeblood of modern industrial societies, it is
also the essential necessity of military force. The US military
machine is the single largest user of oil in the world, and all
armies, air forces and navies run on it.
We have recent experience of how disastrous global resource wars can
be: World War II was largely about resources, and specifically oil -
the Allies basically won by starving Germany and Japan of oil.
No one seriously doubts that oil security is behind the American move
into the Gulf, the American bases in the ex-Soviet Stans, or the
sudden interest by Washington in oil-rich regions of Africa. However,
the US is in direct competition with booming China, rich Europe and
Japan, newly assertive Russia, and a gaggle of other more or less
developed nations, including fast-growing India.
This is not the “all boats are raised by the rising tide” situation
of globalisation, but closer to old style naked imperial competition.
This already tricky situation is compounded by the growing
realisation that global warming is indeed serious and imminent. There
are currently no serious attempts to deal with the problem, and no
signs that anything is about to happen. In fact, the rapid rise of
China and India, and the determination of the rich world to maintain
its privileged position suggest that the problem will not be resolved
by some decisive collective action.
There is no sign that the developed nations will pay any price or
that the developing nations will forgo economic development to in
order to curtail the worst of global warming.
So all of a sudden it’s back to the all-against-all jungle of the
late 19th century, a predicament that was eventually resolved by two
world wars. And in those days there was not an environmental crisis
looming.
...
phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
mobile: 04 1242 0397 | mailto:tony.barry at alianet.alia.org.au
http://tony-barry.emu.id.au
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