Oil and Sovereignty

In the decades that followed World War II, cheap and plentiful oil helped to fuel rapid economic growth, ensure political stability, and reinforce the legitimacy of liberal democracies. Yet waves of price increases and reduced production in the 1970s demonstrated just how much the West's dependence on petroleum left it vulnerable to economic volatility and political unrest. Oil and Sovereignty analyzes the national and international strategies that Americans and Europeans formulated to deal with the era's disruptions. It shows how a variety of different actors combined diplomacy, knowledge creation, economic restructuring, and public relations in their attempts to impose stability and reassert national sovereignty.