Archived Great Discussion Series

"From 1949 on, sentiment for nationalization of Iran's oil industry grew. In 1949 the Majlis approved the First Development Plan (1948-55), which called for comprehensive agricultural and industrial development of the country. The Plan Organization was established to administer the program, which was to be financed in large part from oil revenues. Politically conscious Iranians were aware, however, that the British government derived more revenue from taxing the concessionaire, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC--formerly the Anglo-Persian Oil Company), than the Iranian government derived from royalties. The oil issue figured prominently in elections for the Majlis in 1949, and nationalists in the new Majlis were determined to renegotiate the AIOC agreement."

“A reference to the Standard Oil Company that was founded by John D. Rockefeller in 1870. Before the signing of the antitrust laws in 1911, Standard Oil Company controlled close to 90% of the oil in the United States.” Provides insight into how many of the current U.S. oil companies came into being.

The Seven Sisters is “a term referring to the seven international oil companies that dominated the global oil industry from the 1920s until the 1973 Oil Crisis.” This page gives an outline of the Seven Sisters, as portrayed by the Al Jazeera documentary series by the same name. A link to the documentary itself is provided in the "Video" section of this page.

The process of producing fractures in rocks by pumping in a mixture of water, sand and chemicals, in order to trigger the flow of oil and natural gas.

This article, published in 1980, gives an overview of the Carter Doctrine, which was a “...foreign policy initiative of the Jimmy Carter presidential administration that returned the U.S. to a policy of containment vis-à-vis the Soviet Union. The policy stated that the U.S. would use military force against any country that threatened Washington’s interests in the Persian Gulf. “

Golan Heights is "a rocky plateau in south-western Syria" that "has a political and strategic significance which belies its size." The heights provide, from the perspective of Israel, "an excellent vantage point for monitoring Syrian movements. The topography provides a natural buffer against any military thrust from Syria." In addition, the "area is also a key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River. The area provides a third of Israel's water supply."

"The 1967 Arab-Israeli War marked the failure of the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations’ efforts to prevent renewed Arab-Israeli conflict following the 1956 Suez War. Unwilling to return to what National Security Advisor Walter Rostow called the “tenuous chewing gum and string arrangements” established after Suez, the Johnson administration sought Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it had occupied in exchange for peace settlements with its Arab neighbors. This formula has remained the basis of all U.S. Middle East peacemaking efforts into the present."

“An armed conflict between Israel and the alliance of Egypt and Syria over the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal. Despite early success, the two Arab states were eventually repelled by Israel.” This gave the "Arab states the cohesion to shape a successful policy of embargoing oil shipments to Western Europe and the United States to punish them for their continued support of Israel."

“The 1979 popular uprising against the U.S.-backed Iranian government under the Shah. The revolution resulted in the establishment of the modern National Republic of Iran, and the ascension to power of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution and had the support of various leftist and Islamic organizations and Iranian student movements.”

“A series of naval conflicts between Iran and Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88). The Tanker Wars began in 1984 when Iraq attacked Iranian tanker ships carrying oil out of Iran. The U.S. was pulled into the conflict by Kuwait, and helped defend Iraqi oil ships from Iranian attack.”

This article, published by Foreign Affairs in 2013, "discusses increased energy production in the U.S. as of April 2013, with information on crude oil, natural gas, and renewable energy from wind, solar, and geothermal sources. Topics include the potential for U.S. energy independence posed by the expansion of shale gas and petroleum production, the impact of a diversified energy industry on the U.S. economy, national security, and environmental protection, and the challenges posed by the demands of foreign policy, climate change, and high energy costs."

This article, published in 2014 by WIREs Energy and Environment, examines the way that "energy security has been the trope that policy makers have adopted during the latter part of the 20th century to ensure that consumers can have access to sufficient supplies of energy to meet not only their daily needs, but also their daily wants, of energy. The politics of energy security have largely occurred at the scale of the nation‐state. The growing role of the European Union (EU), on the one hand, the increasing globalization of energy provision and consumption on the other, against the backdrop of anthropogenic climate change, are posing fundamental challenges to the state‐centric, consumption growth model of energy security."

Created by the Department of the Interior (est. late 40s/early 50s), this video give insight into how the U.S. Gov wanted the country to view the history and use of oil.

This series originally aired in 2005 on the History Channel as part of the TV show "Battlefield Detectives." Covers the Arab-Israli war of 1967, also known as 'The Six Day War.'

Created by Al Jazeera, this documentary examines the history of the Seven Sisters.