The Colder War: How the Global Energy Trade Slipped from America's Grasp

Putin is smart. Natural resources are important. The United States has benefited from having the dollar as the world currency for trading oil.

Russia has a lot of natural resources and is not very found of the United States. Putin has not had much respect for Bush or Obama. However, he did seem to get along fine with Trump. (Did he really like Trump, or just think he was easy to manage?) Putin does come across as a bully and is willing to use "KGB" techniques to get things done. There have been cases of political rivals being poisoned as well as "framed" bombing attempts and propaganda. However, he is much more calculating than a mere bully. He has a long term plan. He is well educated (with a PhD) and has spent plenty of time in the political system. He will "play by the rules" in a manner that suits him. He was able to take down oligarchs that were not toeing the line by convicting them of past fraudulent behavior. (Pretty much everyone accumulated their wealth through misbehavior, but only those that get on his bad side are subject to persecution.) The analysis is especially poignant today as parts of Ukraine are being invaded (or as he says "being protected with peacekeeping forces.)

Russia possesses a great deal of natural resources. It provides much of the oil and gas for Europe. However, this must go through pipelines. The "deals" with cheap energy had both benefited and hurt Ukraine. Things get worse when Russia cuts off the spigots. Russia also has the ability to impact other parts of Europe by curtailing shipments. 

There are also many other regions rich in natural resources, yet poor in governance. Saudi Arabia is an important one that has an economy based almost entirely of oil and pilgrimages. However, the oil production has not been keeping pace with population growth, leading towards tensions.

The United States evolved to be the default world currency. Most energy transactions are in dollars. The dollar tends to be the reserve currency for foreign nations. Countries will often get dollars for the oil and then use those dollars to buy US debt. This helps the US to have access to cheap goods (but at the expense of a depressed internal manufacturing economy.) As countries such as China and Russia broker deals among themselves without dollars, that leaves the US in a more precarious situation. The economic boycott of Iranian oil had made things worse for the US in that it showed players how they can bypass the US to trade.

Our economy consumes large amounts of energy. This will leave us at least somewhat dependent on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. The dollar is at risk as other currencies become more common. The book did not cover crypto, which could be an existential threat on two levels (both as a means for settling transaction as well as an excessive consumer of electricity.)  Renewables have their issues and nuclear is subject to a Russian dominance of uranium. There are plenty of challenges detailed in this book without much in the way of easy solutions. (Would heading the author's suggestion to hoard goal really work?)

Oil!

Why do I always seem to get Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis confused? Similar names with an overlapping time period will do that.

In the Jungle, Upton Sinclair attempted to write a novel advocating for workers' rights. Instead, he ended up alarming everyone to the dangers of poor food safety. In Oil! he tries again. Again, his story manages to fail in its original goal, while succeeding in other levels.

I found myself sympathizing with the corrupt father. He saw business as a means unto itself. What was best for his business was best for everyone. Bribes were an important part of getting things properly done. They just a small expense that helped to extract maximum value. Bad things may happen, but you must keep going. On the surface the father seems horrid. However, you can't help but be attached to him. He really wanted the best for everyone. He would unite with the oil companies in keeping the wages down, but support the oil workers with housing. Maybe these corrupt businessmen really do have our interest at heart.

The workers and the communists are less desirable. These people seem to be in it for themselves. The communists, especially, seem to be proto-hippies, overly idealistic, but waffling and even being hypocritical in carrying things out. They try to be physically peaceful while at the same time riling everyone up. The main character wants to support the workers and thinks the communists and socialists have good ways of doing it. However, he also enjoys some of the trappings of the well-to-do lifestyle. They also can't decide what to do with traditional morals. Are they imposed or beneficial? Will it detract from the movement.

There is also an ultra hypocritical evangelical preacher, a gold digging wife and a stolen inheritance thrown in for good measure.

It is fascinating to read this from the time period in which it was written. You could place many of those discussions in the 1960s or the 2010s and they would come out the same. When this book was written, the cold war was far in the future. The Great Depression and World War II were also years away. Yet many of the conversations and activities could have easily taken place in 1969 or 2013. Do all generations go through the same phases?

Surprisingly, Oil plays very little role in the story. Sure, it is the background and the source of the family's money. (Which alas, doesn't make it past the death of the father.) We do get pits of how it influences some of the development patterns, especially in California, but it plays a minor role in this story of life in the roaring 20s.

Energized

Energized is a Russia-American spy thriller set in a near-future science fiction universe. The Arab's have nuke their oil fields wrecking havoc on energy supplies. The world is trying rapidly to produce alternative energy sources, however, it is slow moving. Russia with its oil supplies has emerged the big winner. Meanwhile a space object slipped out of its orbit and started coming towards earth. Through some manipulation this was made to be a second moon. It provided an ideal base for harvesting the sun's energy and beaming it back to earth. This could be a solution to the energy needs of the planet. However, there are environmental concerns. These come to a head when some "terrorists" manage to gain control and start beaming down energy on alternate power sources to destroy them. Our protaganist just happened to be on a mission there at the time and is able to help defeat the bad guys with the help of his new girlfriend and the guy who secretly sent the moon there in the first place. The restore everything, make the world safe and make sure the Russian bad guy is zapped by his own medicine. Now more energy will be available and people will be free to continue their conspicuous consumption. (As an aside, it is mentioned that if we just reduced some of the excess consumption, none of this would be needed.)

It is a fairly conventional thriller plot wrapped in a cautionary tale of the environment. It comes down squarely on the side of rapid new technology as the solution for energy problems. However, it does caution against over-dependence on a single source of power - especially when it is controlled by less-than-desirable entities.

Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude

[July 2009] With a title like this, how can you expect anything unbiased? Alas, this is also its downfall.

One theme throughout this book is that the government has been blind to the many issues in the middle east that are readily evident to the author. While there may be a lot of truth to the arguments, the tone and one-sidedness make it difficult to trust.

The key argument he presents is that there are a number of mutual addictions that promulgate a dangerous situation in the middle east. The US is addicted to oil. Saudi royals are addicted to their money and playboy culture. Saudi citizens are addicted to the extreme welfare state (and thus have more time to be susceptible to extremists. In a brief aside he mentions that the Saudi Royals may have learned how to act by the American petrobusinesses that 'taught' them. And based on the accounts in this book, Saudi Arabia does seem to be run very similarly to a big business (with little in common with a country.)

The insights and accounts are quite appealing. The book itself, would benefit from a more balanced tone.