Global Oil Crises
Could oil control global peace?
4.6 (37)
62 mins
Discover the geopolitical impact of oil, which has shaped international relations, crises, and wars for decades. This story explores key events like the 1973 oil crisis, the Iranian Revolution, and the role of oil in fueling political tensions.
Ep 1:
Black Gold's Rise and Hidden Numbers
From coal's decline to oil empires and rigged reserve numbers, discover how petroleum reshaped nations—and how OPEC's suspiciously stable stockpile figures may be built on political fiction.
Ep 2:
The Weapon in the Pipeline
When the 1973 embargo turned oil into a geopolitical weapon, prices exploded and petrodollars reshaped Wall Street—while the Suez Canal's chokehold on trade proved history loves a sequel.
Ep 3:
Revolution, Panic, and Recovery
Khomeini's return shattered Iran's oil supply and birthed a corrupt trading frenzy—yet decades later, economies quietly learned to absorb the shocks that once brought nations to their knees.
Ep 4:
Fear, Fortune, and the Fall
ISIS's advance triggered an oil-price panic built more on fear than fact, while Texas's 1980s boom-bust taught families a brutal lesson about mistaking luck for genius.
Ep 5:
Putin's Petro-Playbook for War
A political scientist uncovers an eerie pattern: rising oil prices embolden petro-states like Russia to wage war, turning pipelines and windfalls into instruments of conquest.
Ep 6:
Running on Empty
Peak oil looms as a slow-motion crisis decades in the making—could the world's last great oil fields already be past their prime, with catastrophe close behind?
Discussions (17)
Kent
Level 5 · 8 mo agoIt’s actually dead plankton not dinosaurs that we are burning. Kind of funny that the entire global economy and all these wars rely on ancient sea slime.
Niles
Level 2 · 8 mo agoYou're dead right about OPEC inflating reserves in the 80s. Kuwait bumping their numbers overnight was strictly political to get higher quotas, nothing to do with actual discoveries.
Peregrine
Level 2 · 8 mo agoKuwait bumping reserves overnight was 100% fake.
