Iran, always interested in wreaking havoc, has now made it very difficult to ship oil through the Strait of Hormuz. A significant amount of the world’s oil flows through this dangerous place. Iran has always held the world hostage by threatening to block the Straits or to attack shipping.

The problem is the world’s dependency on Arab oil and particularly shipping it through always dangerous waters.

My trailblazing study entitled, “The Triple Alliance of Power” examined the relationship between oil companies, governments, and the end user.  This seminal work provided many insights which are extremely relevant today.

The United States, when it first began to drill for oil in the early 1900s, created tariffs to limit the import of oil and eventually designed an oil import quota. The idea was to prevent the United States from becoming dependent on oil, particularly Arab oil.

Much foreign policy of the United States has been based upon obtaining oil. The United States, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, sidled up to Arab sheiks of every kind and description to create new countries for them. These new countries were then intended to liberally supply oil to the United Kingdom and the United States. It is for this reason that Jordan was given to the Hashemite princes, Saudia Arabia to the Saudi family, Iran to the Persians, and so on.

World War II was, in part, a battle over who would be able to obtain oil. The Nazis courted the Arabs successfully, while the Jews in Jewish Palestine supported Britain and the allies.

In 1969, Richard Nixon abolished the oil import quota policy. He was cozy with the big oil companies, and those companies had major foreign holdings. The American oil giants, along with their British and European allies, wanted to import cheap Arab oil to the United States. Nixon thought that abolishing the oil import quota policy would lower already low gasoline prices for consumers and further comfort our allies in Europe, and our enemies in the Middle East. Nixon was wrong on all counts.

Abolishment of the oil import quota policy made the United States completely dependent on Arab oil and discouraged the United States from developing its own resources.

From the 1970s onward, Iran and other nefarious actors utilized oil as a weapon.  Long gas lines at American gas stations are a dim memory but had major political affect. Americans demanded cheap gas, and inexpensive gasoline meant being cozy with the Arabs and importing as much of their black blood as necessary.

Today the equation has changed.  The United States is oil independent.  The question is, therefore, why would a flare up of tensions in the Middle East cause oil to cost $100 a barrel or more?  The answer is speculation.

The world has developed a system for pricing raw barrels of oil based upon where speculators think the price will go.  If there is a war somewhere where oil is being drilled, speculators will bet that the price is going to increase.  This means that even though the United States does not need the foreign oil, our suppliers and refiners will go along for the ride.  They too will increase their prices, which means that gas will cost more at the pump.

The United States is in a double bind.  We import more oil than we should, we have not done a great job when it comes to alternative sources of energy, and we permit speculators to price the raw product based upon their speculative instincts.  It is a lousy system which distorts our foreign policy and adds unnecessary costs to the consumer.

A free market for purchasers of raw oil products is what is needed.  The marketplace needs to be fair, balanced, and Americanized.  There is no reason why domestic producers of gasoline should be pricing the product based upon what a speculator believes Saudia Arabia is going to charge for oil due to a war in Iran.

Iran is playing this well.  They know that the West is terrified not to have cheap Arab oil.  They will do anything, sell out anybody and make any deal to get cheap oil.

Thankfully, many countries are now bringing back safe and effective nuclear technology.  Fusion power has come a long way and may very well be a source of energy in the coming years.  China is exploring safer thorium reactors.

The bottom line is that the United States and the free world should have the ability and power to eliminate nuclear war.  Iran, since 1977, has made no secret of its intent to acquire nuclear technology for the production of nuclear weapons.  They even have named their targets, the satanic Americans, the hated Israelis, and the disrespected Europeans.

Unfortunately, it was during the presidency of George W. Bush when North Korea officially withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and claimed to have nuclear weapons.  It may very well be that they acquired that technology during the Clinton Administration.  Neither President had the will to do anything about a nuclear armed North Korea, and clearly, they were afraid of China.

Iran has reacted to American efforts to defang the leaders of that country by attacking its Muslim neighbors even more aggressively than they are going after Israel.  Clearly, Iran believes that their neighbors are so dumb that they will abandon the friendly United States and Europe and will throw Israel under the bus simply because Iran has the power to terrorize the region.

The long term effect of Iran’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons and its willingness to attack all of its neighbors hopefully will be a rallying cry uniting Europe, the United States, and sane countries in the Middle East to eliminate the nuclear and terrorist threat from Iran and to create a more peaceful Middle East through expansion of the Abraham Accords.

The Triple Alliance of Power is still exerting a stranglehold over consumers in the free world.  With proper leadership, an understanding of the economic forces at work, and a willingness to stand up to petty tyrants around the world, the West can free itself of oil dependency and oil ransom.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)