Michael T. Klare Knihy

The world is in a crisis of resource depletion that extends beyond "peak oil" to include shortages of coal, uranium, copper, lithium, water, and arable land. As easily accessible resources near exhaustion, the race for supplies has intensified, with governments and corporations exploring previously dangerous and remote areas. This exploration spans from the Arctic to war zones and deep ocean floors, exemplified by a Russian submarine claiming the North Pole seabed and the large-scale acquisition of African farmland by food-importing nations like Saudi Arabia and China. The consequences of this invasion of final frontiers are severe. As resource extraction becomes more complex, environmental risks escalate, with disasters like Deepwater Horizon foreshadowing future dangers. Additionally, the fierce competition for dwindling resources is sparking new border disputes and increasing the likelihood of military confrontations. If this relentless pursuit continues, many essential resources for modern industry may vanish entirely. Klare emphasizes that the only solution is to fundamentally change our consumption patterns, a challenge that will be paramount in the century ahead.

From the author of the now-classic Resource Wars , an indispensable account of how the world's diminishing sources of energy are radically changing the international balance of power Recently, an unprecedented Chinese attempt to acquire the major American energy firm Unocal was blocked by Congress amidst hysterical warnings of a Communist threat. But the political grandstanding missed a larger the takeover bid was a harbinger of a new structure of world power, based not on market forces or on arms and armies but on the possession of vital natural resources.Surveying the energy-driven dynamic that is reconfiguring the international landscape, Michael Klare, the preeminent expert on resource geopolitics, forecasts a future of surprising new alliances and explosive danger. World leaders are now facing the stark recognition that all materials vital for the functioning of modern industrial societies (not just oil and natural gas but uranium, coal, copper, and others) are finite and being depleted at an ever-accelerating rate. As a result, governments rather than corporations are increasingly spearheading the pursuit of resources. In a radically altered world-- where Russia is transformed from battered Cold War loser to arrogant broker of Eurasian energy, and the United States is forced to compete with the emerging "Chindia" juggernaut--the only route to survival on a shrinking planet, Klare shows, lies through international cooperation.

The book provides a critical examination of how dwindling energy resources are reshaping global power dynamics. It explores the implications of energy scarcity on international relations, highlighting the shifts in influence among nations as they compete for limited resources. The author, known for the acclaimed Resource Wars, offers insights into the geopolitical landscape and the strategic maneuvers countries may undertake in response to these challenges. This account is essential for understanding the intersection of energy and global politics.

In his pathbreaking Resource Wars, world security expert Michael Klare alerted us to the role of resources in conflicts in the post-cold-war world. Now, in Blood and Oil, he concentrates on a single precious commodity, petroleum, while issuing a warning to the United States—its most powerful, and most dependent, global consumer. Since September 11 and the commencement of the "war on terror," the world's attention has been focused on the relationship between U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the oceans of crude oil that lie beneath the region's soil. Klare traces oil's impact on international affairs since World War II, revealing its influence on the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Carter doctrines. He shows how America's own wells are drying up as our demand increases; by 2010 the United States will need to import 60 percent of its oil. And since most of this supply will have to come from chronically unstable, often violently anti-American zones—the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, Latin America, and Africa—our dependency is bound to lead to recurrent military involvement. With clarity and urgency, Blood and Oil delineates the United States' predicament and cautions that it is time to change our energy policies, before we spend the next decades paying for oil with blood.