How the United States Engineered Global Hydrocarbon Hegemony
How the United States Engineered Global Hydrocarbon Hegemony, 1965–2025 Over six decades, the United States transformed the world’s oil map into a geopolitical chessboard where alignment = prosperity , defiance = devastation . From the Gulf’s petrodollar monarchies to Latin America’s debt-trapped republics , Washington deployed coups, sanctions, wars, lawfare, and base networks to secure cheap, uninterrupted crude . Aligned states— Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Norway, Colombia, Guyana —enjoyed military umbrellas, FDI floods, and human-rights immunity , catapulting GDP per capita 100–500× and HDI to “very high” (0.85–0.97). Defiant producers— Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Bolivia —faced economic vivisection : sanctions slashed oil output 60–93% , triggered hyperinflation, insurgencies, and mass exodus . Forensic data reveals US sabotage accounts for 55–75% of collapse, misgovernance 20–35% , oil-curse dynamics 5–15% . Expert consensus (CFR, UN, IMF) confirms: without ...