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U.s oil dependency
The American dilemma of dependency on oil
Impact of oil on the economy
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Oil is very important in the United States. We need it heat, electricity, asphalt, cars, etc. In Seth Jones’ article “The Mirage of the Arab Spring” he writes that the “United States imports about 23 percent of its crude oil and related products from the Arab world”. Saudi Arabia is our second biggest foreign supplier of oil (Canada is our first). If the United States stops buying oil from the Arab world and does not provide a substitute as good or better than oil then there will probably be mass protests. I lived in a house for 18 out the 20 years of my life that was heated by oil. If there was an oil shortage during the winter me and my family would probably be turned into popsicles. Also, Americans would probably go crazy and complain
Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the presence of a hierarchical organizations. In contrast, Gladwell characterizes the social networks as an interwoven web of "weak ties" that is inherently devoid of a hierarchy. Gladwell’s prerequisites for social movement are firmly based in strong body of sociological evidence, but his views regarding the nature of online social networks are laughably lacking in foresight and obstructed by a misleadingly selective body of evidence.
Almost every single nation in our world today, the United States included, is extremely reliant on oil and how much of it we can obtain. Wars have been started between countries vying for control of this valuable natural resource. The United States as a whole has been trying to reduce its reliance on foreign oil and has had some success, especially with the discovery of the Bakken formation and projects like the Keystone Pipeline.
Arguments: America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil, at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future, considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%).
People need oil for daily life and work. Since World War II, oil has caused many serious problems in the United States and throughout the world. Remarkably, economic and social problems were heightened by the emerging energy crisis. By 1974, the United States gained a third of its oil by importing from the Middle East. James Oakes, et al.
Since the 15th century the world has been through three major power shifting, as Fareed Zakaria describe in his book “The Post-American World”. Zakaria analyze that the first power shifting began in the 15th century and took place in most of European countries, this was the era of the development of modern science and technology, it is also produced such a long history of political dominance of the nations of the west. . The second shift was the rise of the United States in end of 19th century, right after it industrialized the United States emerged as the most developed and strongest country in the world, and for the last century the United States has dominated the global economics, politics, sciences and cultures. What we are facing right
The initiation of the Syrian War was heavily influenced by the (what was supposed to be a peaceful) protest. As well as the many deaths of the Syrian citizens. These conflicts helped citizens realize all the issues that were going on at the time. There were many causes for the violence that went on during the Syrian Civil War. It can be inferred that the three main aspects that fueled the violence of the Syrian War were due to foreign influence, sectarian opposition, and conflicts between opposing groups.
The United States has had several scares throughout its history in terms of oil, most turn out to be over exaggerations of a small event. However, these scares highlight a massive issue with the U.S. and that issue is the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Why does it matter that our oil should come from over seas? In a healthy economy this probably wouldn’t be as relevant, but the U.S.’s economy is not exactly healthy at the moment. There are 4 things that I would like to address: what the problem is, how it affects us, what some solutions are, and what solutions I feel are best.
Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. (2011). In addition to the rise in prices, another negative aspect of the U.S. dependency on foreign crude oil is the risk of supply disruptions caused by political instability in the Middle East. According to Rebecca Lefton and Daniel J. Weiss in the article “Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit” in 2010, the U.S. imported 4 million barrels of oil a day, or 1.5 billion barrels per year, from “dangerous or unstable” countries. The prices at which these barrels are being purchased are still very high, and often lead to conflict between the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries. Lefton and Weiss also add that the U.S. reliance on oil from countries that are dangerous or unstable could have serious implications for our national security, economy and environment....
An attack on the Syrian state would fall within the boundaries of the international concept of the responsibility to protect. The crisis in Syria has escalated by protests in March 2011 calling for the release of all political prisoners. National security forces responded to widespread peaceful demonstrations with the use of brutal violence. The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refused to stop attacks and allow for implementation of the reforms requested by the demonstrators. By July 2011, firsthand accounts emerged from witnesses, victims, and the media that government forces had subjected innocent civilians to detention, torture, and the use of heavy weaponry. The Syrian people were also subjected to the Shabiha, a largely armed state sponsored militia fighting with security forces. Al-Assad continually denied responsibility to these crimes and placed blame on the armed groups and terrorists for these actions.
This has a large impact on the overall United States economy, and even the economy of the world. As mentioned earlier, OPEC and ISIS has taken complete control of oil over the past six months, to push the fracking industry out of business. If OPEC and ISIS keep doing this, we may see prices at $15 a barrel!!This may be good financially for families temporarily,but in the long run, after the fracking industry is out of business, we may see oil prices at $5-$6. This would hurt the economy substantially. Because oil prices are so high, it would push trucking industries and large businesses that rely on oil/gas out of business. When we interviewed people, they said that they each know at least one person who has gotten cut from Exxon or Chevron. Why is that? Low oil prices are providing gas stations with less profit.Because of this, Exxon is not making enough profit to pay the workers, so just because low gas prices are good for families, it isn’t good for the overall economy. And again, as soon as OPEC and ISIS pushes the fracking industry out of business, oil prices will keep plummeting. Until then, lets hope that prices will return back to normal and OPEC and ISIS does not control the oil industry negatively. As far as our concern however, our families will enjoy low oil
The United States currently has 250 years of oil already drilled. Oil is a necessity to the world today. It is one of the most important natural resources on the planet. The benefits of oil drilling by far outweigh the negative benefits. Oil is used in many of the products that we use today. We must continue drilling for oil as it is a major natural resource that the United States can benefit from for many more years.
As the Arab Spring enters its second year, major uprisings and revolts have occurred all over the Middle East, pushing for an end to the corrupt autocratic rule and an expansion of civil liberties and political rights. Most recently, images from Syria have emerged, depicting the government’s use of force to suppress the voice of its people. One might ask, “Is this the beginning of a revolution? Is the country on the path to democracy?” To assess this question and examine the future trends in the region, one must look back on the country’s somewhat tumultuous history, the relationship between the citizens and the state, and the political economy.
The current world dependence on oil leaves much to be said about the impact of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East on foreign policy and international politics. Presently the world's largest consumer of oil, the U.S. depends on Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East for the energy to run its businesses, its homes, and most importantly, its automobiles. In the past few months U.S. consumers have felt the pressures of increasing gasoline prices as they struggle to commute and live their daily lives. This leaves the U.S. with important decisions to be made on behalf of its citizens and its position in the international realm.
This rise in prices was real problem for the United States because they had no spare production to make up for the lack of Arab oil. Inside the U.S., the public suffered greatly because of the popularity of suburbia which in turn created a large dependency on oil to go anywhere. Therefore, the OPEC shock was detrimental to the life of the American citizen during its duration. People became very aware of the importance of oil, its price, and its availability. Thus there became an especially strong political pressure on companies, which promoted “equal suffering” and “fair share” principles to promote diversion. The king of Iran came up with a new basis for oil prices and it won app...
Oil and natural gas production has been exponentially multiplying since 2008, making the United States independent from foreign energy. This is important for the United States economy because in the last century a significant amount of GDP has gone to the importation of Oil and gas, doing so we have become victims of the rise and fall of the volatile prices set by OPEC, driving the United States to economic crisis, as it happened in the 1973 oil crisis where oil prices rose dramatically from $3.00 per barrel to $12.00 per barrel .