"A valuable addition to the new wave of critical studies on the history of oil and energy policy"-and a bracing corrective to longstanding myths (James M. Gustafson, Diplomatic History).
Conventional wisdom tells us that the US military presence in the Persian Gulf is what guarantees American access to oil; that the "special" relationship with Saudi Arabia is necessary to stabilize an otherwise volatile market; and that these assumptions in turn provide Washington enormous leverage over Europe and Asia. But the conventional wisdom is wrong.
Robert Vitalis debunks the myths of "oilcraft", a line of magical thinking closer to witchcraft than statecraft. Oil is a commodity like any other: bought, sold, and subject to market forces. Vitalis exposes the suspect fears of oil scarcity and investigates the geopolitical impact of these false beliefs.
In particular, Vitalis shows how we can reconsider the question of the US-Saudi special relationship, which confuses and traps many into unnecessarily accepting what they imagine is a devil's bargain. Freeing ourselves from the spell of oilcraft won't be easy, but the benefits make it essential.

1. Opening
2. Raw Materialism
3. 1973: A Time to Confuse
4. No Deal
5. Breaking the Spell

Robert Vitalis is Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. His books include America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier (Stanford, 2007), named one of the best books of the year by the London Guardian and an essential read by Foreign Affairs, as well as White World Order, Black Power Politics: The Birth of American International Relations (2015) and When Capitalists Collide: Business Conflict and the End of Empire in Egypt (1995).