From the CIAO Atlas Map of Middle East 

MERIA

Middle East Review of International Affairs

Volume 9, Number 2, June 2005

 

Oil and the Iraq War: How the United States Could Have Expected to Benefit, and Might Still
by John Duffield *

 

Abstract

This article elaborates on the potential oil-related benefits to the United States of regime change in Iraq, especially as they might have appeared prior to the final decision to go to war in late 2002 and early 2003. It first describes the importance of Persian Gulf oil to world oil markets. It then discusses the nature of the threat posed by Iraq under Saddam Hussein to the other oil-producing states in the region. In a third section, it identifies the constraints that had hobbled Iraqi oil production and the potential benefits of removing those constraints. The conclusion considers the implications for U.S. policy in Iraq.

Full Text (PDF, 33 pages, 139.3 KB)

Note *: John S. Duffield is associate professor of political science at Georgia State University in Atlanta. His current research focuses on the effects of international institutions and the politics of oil.