Lust for Oil--The Everlasting Phenomenon (Bonus Blog)

 Ukraine, as seen in the political map below, is a country rich in oil—the “liquid gold” of the 20^th and 21^st century.  Finding this out frightened me for one significant reason, nearly every Middle Eastern encounter the United States and Russia have played a part in, with or without the other, has been for a lust of today’s oil.  According to recent polls, at the rate of world consumption the Earth will dry up every known oil stockpile by the 2050s.  Big countries like the U.S., Russian Federation, and Republic of China have economies placed on the backs of oil consumption.  If the world was to dry up this nonrenewable resource will devastate almost every country’s economy, especially those with larger populations. 

Reaching back to 1979, what was known as the “White Revolution” was taking place in Iran by it’s supposed Islamic government.  Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, the shah or king at the time, was placed into power by the U.S. government to combat the previously “Pro-Soviet Union” shah who was supplying Iran’s northern neighbors with tremendous amounts of oil and money.  Pahlavi took control and attempted to “westernize” his Islamic republic.  Causing extreme turmoil and counteraction against his corruption, the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1979 where, unfortunately, several Americans were taken hostage from our embassy.  Have you ever seen Argo? Well, yeah. 

Though the same argument for U.S. lust for oil appeared on several other cases (including the Gulf War and Iran-Iraq War), the Ukrainian conflict is the most similar that the issue explained above.  In both cases, Russia initiated conflict and spread its spheres of influence further so to slowly gain more and more control.  The Crimean region of Ukraine is the province of which the most number of inhabitants are Russian or speak in that same tongue.  On the border of the black sea with huge cities Sevastopol and Simferopol, this region can act as both a port to the Mediterranean Sea and a “reason” for other nearby provinces to join Russia.  In this case, Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation, took advantage of public distaste for their current ruler (just as the United States did in the years prior to 1979), and gave the Ukrainian people an “alternate” solution.  If Crimea joins Russia, you can count that other close provinces may as well.  But why is this a fear for me, a citizen of the United States? Ever since the dawn of the Cold War, both the U.S. and Russia have been enacting a foreign policy of militarism.  At its climax, a conversation between our president and their prime minister contained the recognition that the U.S can “destroy” Russia “over 3000 times” which was followed closely by “we can [blow you up] only once, but that is [fine] with us.”  Simply put, practically the entire eastern portion of Ukraine is Russian (or speaks Russian).  A supermajority of Ukraine’s largest oil and natural gas fields lie in the East.  And so, Russia has a window to gain. 

What frightens me about the situation is that whenever Russia “infringes upon” another nation’s natural rights, the United States most often plays the role as the “Global Police”.  The military power at hand, if the U.S. and Russia enter a conflict, will be enough to cause world-wide devastation not only to economies but to lives.  A theme has arisen where Vladimir Putin pushes Barack Obama, and Obama puts him back in his place.  Putin is not afraid to challenge America.  That’s what scares me.