Oil

The Most Absurd Arguments About the Oil Spill

The gulf disaster has opened up a gushing plume of nonsensical rhetoric.

BY ANDREW SWIFT | JUNE 3, 2010

Ahmadinejad's Sugar Daddy

How Brazilian ethanol could help Iran outwit American sanctions.

BY GAL LUFT | JUNE 3, 2010

Oil, Oil Everywhere

A month after a BP drilling operation began hemorrhaging crude into the Gulf of Mexico, company executives and White House officials are still volleying the blame and the responsibility for what will be the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BY BRIAN FUNG | MAY 25, 2010

Can Obama Take Over the Oil Spill Response?

You betcha.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MAY 25, 2010

A Proxy War in Peru

A rumble in the Amazonian jungle turns into a referendum on colonialism, genocide, and the role of foreign infiltrators in Peruvian policy.

BY ARNO KOPECKY | MAY 19, 2010

What Happens to the Oil After an Oil Spill?

Depends how fast you get to it.

BY JOSHUA KEATING | APRIL 27, 2010

The Twilight of the Western Oil Majors

A deal in Brazil between China and Petrobras suggests that Western Big Oil may be on its way out.

BY LISA VISCIDI | APRIL 27, 2010

How Sudan's Election Got Messy

Diplomats, politicians, NGOs, and even the South Sudanese themselves went into this week's vote with one goal: to get it over with. But it's not that easy.

BY MAGGIE FICK | APRIL 12, 2010

Time for a New Nigerian President

A former government minister tells the inside story of how trickery, corruption, political plots, and a power vacuum are tearing apart this West African giant.

BY NASIR EL-RUFAI | APRIL 1, 2010

Tapped Out

Why Hugo Chávez's friends can't save his petrostate.

BY DANIEL FREIFELD | MARCH 18, 2010

How Iraqi Oil Is Changing the World

OPEC could be in for a serious shake-up.

BY STEPHEN GLAIN | MARCH 17, 2010

Money Talks

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH/APRIL 2010

Big Trouble With Big China

From Washington to Beijing, relations are looking more tense than ever. Here's a guide to which disputes matter -- and which are likely to blow over fast.

BY JOHN LEE | FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Green With Envy

Instead of vilifying China over its role in the failure of the Copenhagen summit, Europe should take a page from its economic playbook.

BY JONATHAN HOLSLAG | JANUARY 5, 2010

A Double Dip

Rising oil prices could drive the global economy into another recession.

BY STEVEN KOPITS | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

Crude Is the New Carbon

Since the world can't seem to agree on cutting carbon emissions, maybe it's time to try an easier but equally important target: oil.

BY GAL LUFT | DECEMBER 22, 2009

Think Again: Africom

U.S. Africa Command was launched to controversy and has been met with skepticism ever since. Behind two years of mixed messages, a coherent mission might finally be emerging. Here's what you need to know about the world's next U.S. military hub.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Briefing Book: Iran's Sanctions

What could sanctions against Iran really do?

BY BRIANNA ROSEN, CHARLIE SZROM, MASEH ZARIF | NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Debunking the Dumping-the-Dollar Conspiracy

On Monday, the Independent reported that a number of countries are conspiring to dump the dollar as the primary oil trade currency, spelling disaster for the U.S. economy. But the United States wouldn't need to fear -- even if it were true.

BY DEAN BAKER | OCTOBER 7, 2009

Saving Ghana from Itself

In the September/October issue of Foreign Policy, Moisés Naím asks if there's any way oil-rich countries can avoid the resource curse. Ghana, the newest member of the oil-producing club, has a good shot. Maybe.

BY TODD MOSS | SEPTEMBER 4, 2009

No Exit?

Despite a valiant start, impoverished, oil-rich Chad has succumbed to the resource curse. But it's not too late to escape.

BY LOUISE ARBOUR | SEPTEMBER 4, 2009

Resource Cursed

Equatorial Guinea is perhaps the world's most striking example of why oil hurts, rather than helps, many of the countries that have it. Will the Obama administration stop the country's dictator from sucking its people dry?

BY TUTU ALICANTE, LISA MISOL | AUGUST 26, 2009

Is a Green World a Safer World?

A guide to the coming green geopolitical crises.

BY DAVID J. ROTHKOPF | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

States of Play

National oil companies control 80 percent of the world's oil. But they're not all the same. 

BY VALERIE MARCEL | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

Gas Guzzlers

The Middle East consumes too much oil.

BY MICHAEL A. LEVI | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

Don't Be Crude

Why Barack Obama's energy-dependence talk is just demagoguery.

BY PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

A Hole in the Bucket

How petrostates lost big in the Great Recession.

BY VELJKO FOTAK , BILL MEGGINSON | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

How High Will It Go?

How the price of oil might superspike once again.

BY THE MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE | SEPT. / OCT. 2009