Iraq and the International Oil System: Why America Went to War in the Gulf

This book explains:

" How the Persian Gulf came under the control of a coercive cartel with benefits for members that were denied to outsiders.

" The history of the oil system that evolved in the United States: its roots in Pennsylvania, through Texas "wildcatters" and the dominance of Standard Oil barons.

" The central role of oil in conflicts in Central Asia

" The introduction and conclusion address the motivations behind the most recent war in Iraq.


Contents: Introduction, 1. The Birth of the U.S. Oil Industry, and Its Movement Overseas, 2. A Handful of Companies Gain Control of the Industry, 3. The Fall of Mosadeq and the Triumph, of the Oil Cartel in the United States, 4. The OPEC Revolution and the Clashes between Iraq and the Cartel. 5. Second and Third Shocks and the 1987 Reflagging, 6. Iran-Contra and Iraq: The Media, Campaign that Took America to War, 7. Post-Script, Index. Map.

Stephen C. Pelletière is the author of The Kurds: An Unstable Element in the Gulf. He was the Central Intelligence Agency's senior political analyst on Iraq throughout the Iran-Iraq War.