25.07.2014 - Will the U.S. Oil Boom Make Energy Sanctions Easier?
Ask someone to identify a big geopolitical consequence of the ongoing U.S. oil production boom and odds are high that they’ll invoke Iran. (Every one of the links in that last sentence is an example.) Without surging U.S. oil production, they’ll argue, sanctions on Iranian oil exports would have led to a massive oil price spike. Here is a concrete case of the oil boom yielding greater U.S. freedom of action in the world, and a harbinger, it would seem, of things to come. The historical account seems right, but it’s tough to see how the Iran experience might be repeated. The upshot is that the lessons for future U.S. freedom of action – and for geopolitics more generally – are being badly over-read...............................................Full Article: Source
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