Michael Klare argues that the revolution and turmoil sweeping so many of the Middle Eastern oil-producing nations will bring the age of cheap oil to an end.
Klare warns that the "Old Oil Order" to which we've become accustomed is about to be swept away by uprisings that no outside interference can stem -- particularly not military interference. These events, he says, point to the urgent need to transition to sustainable energy alternatives.
"Whatever the outcome of the protests, uprisings, and rebellions now sweeping the Middle East, one thing is guaranteed: the world of oil will be permanently transformed. [A]ll of [the Middle Eastern countries] likely to get swept up into the tumult exhibit some elements of the same authoritarian political mold and all are connected to the old oil order. Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Oman, and Sudan are oil producers; Egypt and Jordan guard vital oil pipelines and, in Egypt's case, a crucial canal for the transport of oil; Bahrain and Yemen as well as Oman occupy strategic points along major oil sealanes. All have received substantial U.S. military aid and/or housed important U.S. military bases. And, in all of these countries, the chant is the same: 'The people want the regime to fall.'
Consider the recent rise in the price of oil just a faint and early tremor heralding the oilquake to come."
Read the full story: The Collapse of the Old Oil Order
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