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Oil and the American Century

Oil and the American Century David S. Painter Understanding how oil fueled the “American century” is fundamental to understanding the sources, dynamics, and consequences of U.S. global dominance. Essential to both military power and the functioning of modern society, oil fueled American power and prosperity during the twentieth century. The United States was the world’s leading oil producer for the first three-quarters of the century, and five of the seven great oil corpo - rations that dominated the international oil industry from the 1920s to the 1970s were American companies. Control of oil bolstered U.S. military and economic might and enabled the United States and its allies to win both world wars and the Cold War. e Th U.S. government worked closely with the oil industry to gain and maintain control of overseas oil reserves, reflecting a symbiosis of national security interests and the interests of the oil companies. Maintaining access to oil became a key priority of U.S. foreign policy and involved the United States in regional and local conifl cts in Latin America, the Middle East, and other oil-producing areas in ways that distorted development in many countries. Most of the major doctrines of postwar U.S. foreign policy—the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of American History Oxford University Press

Oil and the American Century

Painter, David S.
The Journal of American History , Volume 99 (1) – Jun 1, 2012
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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Organization of American Historians. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0021-8723
eISSN
1945-2314
DOI
10.1093/jahist/jas073
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

David S. Painter Understanding how oil fueled the “American century” is fundamental to understanding the sources, dynamics, and consequences of U.S. global dominance. Essential to both military power and the functioning of modern society, oil fueled American power and prosperity during the twentieth century. The United States was the world’s leading oil producer for the first three-quarters of the century, and five of the seven great oil corpo - rations that dominated the international oil industry from the 1920s to the 1970s were American companies. Control of oil bolstered U.S. military and economic might and enabled the United States and its allies to win both world wars and the Cold War. e Th U.S. government worked closely with the oil industry to gain and maintain control of overseas oil reserves, reflecting a symbiosis of national security interests and the interests of the oil companies. Maintaining access to oil became a key priority of U.S. foreign policy and involved the United States in regional and local conifl cts in Latin America, the Middle East, and other oil-producing areas in ways that distorted development in many countries. Most of the major doctrines of postwar U.S. foreign policy—the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and

Journal

The Journal of American History – Oxford University Press

Published: Jun 1, 2012

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