Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 02/2010

The Political Economy of Oil in the U.S.-Iran Crisis: U.S. globalized oil interests vs. Iranian regional interests

Thomas W. O'Donnell

October 2009

The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

Abstract

In the U.S.-Iranian nuclear crisis, U.S. motivations stem from its role as protector of a market-centered global oil system, herein the "The One Global Barrel." This market itself is the principal basis of global energy security today, unlike the political-economics of the old neo- colonial system.