A Century Of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order | F. William Engdahl

A Century Of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order | F. William Engdahl | Powerful and Convincing!!!

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A Century Of War: ...

	A Century Of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order F. William Engdahl Pluto Press, 2004 - 312 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An invaluable guide to current economic and political events

First, I'd like to thank fellow Amazon reviewer S. Swink for suggesting this book in a comment he helpfully attached to my review of "Conjuring Hitler". That tip led me to read the most interesting and informative book I have read in a long time. As there are already 29 reviews, many of them very insightful, I will touch on topics that were not emphasised in the reviews so far. These are topics I've heard a lot about lately, but more by way of heated references than the informed discussion found in "A Century Of War". I will list a few of them.

* "Bretton Woods Agreements" - Engdahl explains the motivations of the Anglo-Americans behind the agreements and the central role of oil, which many discussions don't emphasise enough.

* "The New World Order" - Not a conspiracy theory, but a conspiracy fact. George HW Bush waxed poetic about the NWO until he was advised to tone it down. Rather than misquote the back of the US $1 bill, Engdahl explains what was actually meant by the NWO, at least at the time the term was current in the early 1990s.

* "Bilderberg Group" - Again, not a conspiracy theory. I quote an endnote to Chapter 9:
" 'Saltjöbaden conference' Bilderberg meetings, 11-13 May, 1973. The author obtained an original copy of the official discussion from this meeting. Normally confidential, the document was bought in a Paris used bookstore, apparently coming from the library of a member. "

In this book you will find irrefutable proof that the 1973 OPEC oil price "crisis" was the result of an elitist cabal, with the Bilderberg Group at the centre of the cabal. (And some reviewers complained about the lack of documentation!)

* "Trilateral Commission" - Founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski, this is a very real and powerful group, indeed. Jimmy Carter, who nominally presided over what was then dubbed the "Trilateral Presidency", was selected by the Trilateraloids. By way of documentation, Engdahl lists the "Founding members of the Trilateral Commission (1973)".

* "Malthusian" - Now also "neo-Malthusian". I didn't understand what this reference to the Rev. Malthus had to do with modern economics until I read this book. Yes, overpopulation is a problem, but you don't solve the problem the way the neo-Malthusians in the IMF do it.

* "PNAC" - The Project for a New American Century, obviously not a conspiracy theory. I didn't actually see anything new about PNAC that isn't available all over the Internet, but Engdahl does weave the neocon policies into the fabric of his discussion.

* The fall of the Shah of Iran and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. - Perhaps most people have forgotten by now that the US engineered the replacement of the Shah with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It seems that the Shah was not only cutting deals to bypass the Anglo-American Seven Sisters to sell oil, but was also making deals to install nuclear power plants in Iran. (Sound familiar?) This move naturally had the fingerprints of the then National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski all over it. Brzezinski is also defiantly proud of provoking the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, which was perhaps the single most important factor leading to the demise of the USSR.

The second edition of this book (2004) seems to contain many new references, plus an new introduction and final chapter. If you have only read the earlier edition, I suggest getting the newer one. I would eventually like to see a third edition, in line with the changing political situation in the USA, and particularly in view of Engdahl's changed views on the source of oil since the publication of this book. He now subscribes to the a-biotic or abiotic theory, abandoning his prior belief in the peak oil theory mentioned in the final chapter of "A Century Of War".

Apropos the headline of my review, I found Engdahl's references to the "Trilateral Presidency" of Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski's role as one of Carter's primary advisors particularly timely. As the neocons are gradually exiting from central roles in government, control behind the scenes is inevitably shifting, perhaps back to a more left-of-centre public face. Zbigniew Brzezinski has re-surfaced lately as a darling of the Left due to his opposition to the neocon policy in the Middle East and his role as the primary foreign policy controller of Barak Obama. This book as helped convince me that Brzezinski's presence in this milieu is probably not a good sign.

I recommend keeping up with the latest articles by Mr Engdahl, which are easily found on the Internet. He now has his own website which you can easily find.

I also recommend some books that cover some of the topics in "A Century Of War" in more detail.

For a detailed look at the Anglo-American machinations against Germany after WW 1:
Conjuring Hitler: How Britain And America Made the Third Reich
What's so bad about the IMF? and details of the financial deal between the USA and Saudi Arabia in the mid-1970s:
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Much on the US military empire:
Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project)

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Powerful and Convincing!!!

I was quite enmeshed in the first half of the book when Engdahl detailed how the 2 powers- the US and mostly the British sought to secure oil in the Middle East at the turn of the 20th century with the help of the House of Morgan- quite convincing. More surprising is the idea that after World War II- London Financial interests moved their holdings to New York. Hence, allowing the US to become a major superpower around the world due to the flow of capital coming into and out of the country in the form of dollars. Engdahl lost me a bit as he focused toward the latter half of the book on US domestic policy in terms of inflation and interest rates during the Volcker years as federal reserve chairman and how it pertained to oil- he only mentions oil in passing. I wished he would have elaborated further and incorporated more the interests of other countries during this time period (if any). It seems he ignored the British somewhat during this period- does that mean their influence was diminished? It was unclear. However, toward the end of the book, he picks up again the influence of oil companies in terms of policy making in the US and Britain. He leaves us with a frightening scenario where the world is running out of oil potentially leading to the downfall of modern civilization. It is quite an excellent work providing an alternative history of modern warfare other than what you get in standard textbooks and the mainstream press. If anyone wants to see how frightenly powerful oil can be to the interests of today's society, read this book! It will leave you with an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling about our future. Highly recommended (note: this does not mean I endorse everything in this book especially peak oil but it is worth thinking about).

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This explains it all.

It is imperative that the US and British people no longer be in the dark. A very few powerful people and organizations have controlled us and the world too long. It is critical that we understand this deceit and this book gives researched, detailed account. The manipulation is outrageous and angering but the more that read and understands the contents of this book; the sooner the people of the entire planet will be able to change their Orwellian future.

Ambitious, but rewarding for a short book

This topic could have resulted in a 2000+ page book. What Engdahl did produce was a remarkable explanation for the behaviour of the American and English governments over the last 100 or so years, without a great deal of footnoting. This is not an academic textbook, but a summary explanation. One could certainly find flaws, typos, as in any book, but this is the most coherent explanation I have seen to date for the pathological behaviour of our elected leaders of both parties.

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Important. Flawed.

Interesting, isn't it, how this book seemed to either receive four stars or just a few. The significance of the subject and the author's apparently detailed knowledge of it explain the five star ratings. You don't have to be paranoid to believe that the British and US pursuit of oil has driven world events for the past century, that characters offstage manipulate world events, that the great steering wheel of politics in this country has never really been connected to the Machine. That's the five-star part. The one star part is how these minutely-detailed sections on economic history and oil politics are broken up by patches of speculation--opinion, really--Engdahl presents as the truth. If the book were all opinion or if it were all dispassionate history, it would be easier to read without wanting to throw it against the wall. This story is important! Engdahl shouldn't have compromised his writing by making the sort of unsubstantiated claims that are believeable only because they appeal to one's worst fears: Did Robert McNamara and McGeorge Bundy intentionally devise Vietnam as a no-win war in order to boost employment in the defense industry? Or that the Eisenhauer Highway System was built for no reason other than to boost oil consumption? Or that Henry Kissinger intentionally touched off the 6-day War, and that the CIA intentionally "launched" the hippie movement....So many crazy "facts" demand more documentation than exists here. In the end, Engdahl sounds like some kind of stoned hippie politico, connecting the dots to produce a picture that's not quite there. History is complicated. Some of it we read in the newspapers. The big picture usually requires the type of thoughtful analysis that Engdahl starts to produce, then screws up with nutty claims. Too bad.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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