Energy concepts and applications

Energy Crisis of 1973

In 1973, OPEC, the cartel of the most oil-rich Middle-Eastern countries responsible for producing the majority of the world's crude oil, cut off exports of petroleum to Western nations in reaction to what they saw as the Israeli bias of the United States in recent Arab-Israeli conflicts. "Although the oil embargo would not ordinarily have made a tremendous impact on the U.S., panicking investors and oil companies caused a gigantic surge in oil prices. The situation, caused more by fear and irrationality than any firm economic basis, turned out to be one of the most memorable of the 1970s. Those who can remember the so-called 'Mideast oil crisis' also remember long lines at the gas pump due to petroleum shortages and high gasoline prices" ("The Mideast Oil Crisis," Energy Through History, 2007).

A realist international relations theorist would have stressed a 'power politics' solution to the crisis, such as pressuring OPEC member nations to release their supplies of crude. This might be accomplished levying economic sanctions against the Arab members and by forcing U.S. investors and oil companies to keep their prices down through price controls. It would be critical in the power dynamic of the global community to demonstrate that the U.S. would not panic in the face of bullying pressure by OPEC. A realist might also suggest further exploiting sources of oil within the United States' own borders, to make it less dependent upon the whims of other nations and more self-sufficient.