Fill ‘er up with Dictators

Cloer Brandon

        The chapter “Fill ‘Er Up with Dictators” in the book Hot, Flat, and Crowded written by Thomas Friedman focuses on oil’s effect on society in the Middle East.  The chapter talks about America’s addiction to oil, and how we as a country turn a blind eye to societal issues in the Arabic world.  Due to the Middle East’s supply of oil, small groups of extremist are able to control Islamic society due to the influx of money from countries addicted to oil around the world.  The center of all this activity, the chapter explains, is the oil rich country of Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia has two of the holist mosques in the Islam religion located inside of its borders, making it a hotbed for extreme conservative views among Muslims.  The profit that Saudi Arabia gains from oil is spread out to other Middle Eastern countries with extremist views, leading to a rise of jihadist, which is indirectly funded by the United States and other oil hungry nations.

        Friedman also explains in the chapter that when the price of oil goes up, freedom goes down.  He shows this through a series of charts and examples.  The chapter explains that in the 50s and 60s Iran was moving towards a more liberal Arabic state while oil prices and demand were low.  However, when oil prices and demand rose, Iran turned into a strict Islamic state, stripping women of almost all rights and becoming extremely intolerant of western influence and other religions.  Friedman also goes onto to say that the world is facing a “democratic recession” due to the high demand of oil.  The chapter also points out that the Soviet Union started to fall apart when the price of oil was driven down, resulting in less money and less power for the communist state. Less money and power leads to more freedom according to Friedman.  This whole theory of loosing freedom while oil prices rise is called the First Law of Petropolitics.  In the closing remarks of the chapter Freidman states that in order to be an effective foreign policy realist, you must also be an effective energy-saving environmentalist.  He claims this is the Second Law of Petropolitics.  

        I will start this critical analysis off by saying I am a right wing conservative and a lot of time I don’t buy into environmental issues.  I’ve always believed that jobs should take a priority over an endangered bird.  I also was a supporter of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.  However, Thomas Friedman made me see a different perspective on the environmental issue of oil and the wars we have fought in the Middle East.  Friedman claims that the rise of extremist Islam is a direct effect of the money made from oil in the Middle East.  I never looked at it that way. I do believe that America is addicted to oil.  I’m guilty of this myself.  I drive a lifted truck that gets around nine miles to the gallon, however I never think of the implications my gas mileage has on society in the Middle East.  I am not a firm believer in the assumption my gas emissions will burn a hole through the atmosphere.  After reading this chapter I do believe now that due to first world country’s addiction to oil, we taken freedom away from many individuals in the Islamic world.  When Friedman states on page 81 that “Our addiction to oil makes global warming warmer, petrodictators stronger, clean air dirtier, poor people poorer, democratic countries weaker, and radical terrorists richer” he is making a very bold statement.  I agree strongly on the social issues he presents; however Friedman presents no facts on how our addiction to oil is making global warming warmer and clean air dirtier.  I’m sure this could be true, but I do not believe it and there are absolutely no facts in this chapter to prove this.  Friedman does present facts on how our addiction to oil is turning Islamic more and more radical everyday day leading to suppression of western influence

        I will argue against the notion that the United States went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan over oil.  Yes, we may have been attacked on 9/11 due to oil, but we did not go to war to protect our oil interests.  In my opinion, George Bush sent soldiers into Afghanistan to punish the people responsible for 9/11.  He then sent troops into Iraq to make sure Terrorists coming from oil rich countries such as Saudi Arabia did not have a hotbed to recruit new terrorists.  As oil hungry as we may be, I do not believe our government will send in American troops to lose their lives over oil.  There could be more facts showing that the United States went to war over Oil, but Thomas Friedman did not do enough to convince me of this.  After reading this chapter I realize that addiction to oil has a lot more problems than just environmental problems.  While I disputed some of Friedman’s claims, I agree with him in that we must start finding alternative uses to oil in order to protect religious minorities and outsiders in the Middle East.