The Oil Kings

How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East

By: Andrew Scott Cooper

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

struggling with a recession . . . European nations at risk of defaulting on their loans . . . A possible global financial crisis. It happened before, in the 1970s.

Oil Kings is the story of how oil came to dominate U.S. domestic and international affairs. As Richard Nixon fought off Watergate inquiries in 1973, the U.S. economy reacted to an oil shortage initiated by Arab nations in retaliation for American support of Israel in the Arab- Israeli war. The price of oil skyrocketed, causing serious inflation. One man the U.S. could rely on in the Middle East was the Shah of Iran, a loyal ally whose grand ambitions had made him a leading customer for American weapons. Iran sold the U.S. oil; the U.S. sold Iran missiles and fighter jets. But the Shah’s economy depended almost entirely on oil, and the U.S. economy could not tolerate annual double-digit increases in the price of this essential commodity. European economies were hit even harder by the soaring oil prices, and several NATO allies were at risk of default on their debt.

In 1976, with the U.S. economy in peril, President Gerald Ford, locked in a tight election race, decided he had to find a country that would sell oil to the U.S. more cheaply and break the OPEC monopoly, which the Shah refused to do. On the advice of Treasury Secretary William Simon and against the advice of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Ford made a deal to sell advanced weaponry to the Saudis in exchange for a modest price hike on oil.
Ford lost the election, but the deal had lasting consequences. The Shah’s economy was destabilized, and disaffected elements in Iran mobilized to overthrow him. The U.S. had embarked on a long relationship with the autocratic Saudi kingdom that continues to this day.

Andrew Scott Cooper draws on newly declassified documents and interviews with some key figures of the time to show how Nixon, Ford, Kissinger, the CIA, and the State and Treasury departments—as well as the Shah and the Saudi royal family— maneuvered to control events in the Middle East. He details the secret U.S.-Saudi plan to circumvent OPEC that destabilized the Shah. He reveals how close the U.S. came to sending troops into the Persian Gulf to break the Arab oil embargo. The Oil Kings provides solid evidence that U.S. officials ignored warning signs of a potential hostage crisis in Iran. It discloses that U.S. officials offered to sell nuclear power and nuclear fuel to the Shah. And it shows how the Ford Administration barely averted a European debt crisis that could have triggered a financial catastrophe in the U.S. Brilliantly reported and filled with astonishing details about some of the key figures of the time, The Oil Kings is the history of an era that we thought we knew, an era whose momentous reverberations still influence events at home and abroad today.

Great Read

Great subject, well written, excellent narrator. Very interesting read on the relationship between the US, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and the large oil producers of the 70's.

Enjoyed it very much

Very helpful in understanding the historical context of the time and how so much of this persists today.

You Dont' Think This Affected You? IT DID!

I can stop myself from remembering where I was while all this was going on. And none of us had any idea. Interesting history and its probably not the history you remember...

Very informative history!

I loved being able to learn about the relationship between the United States and Iran through the 50s 60s and 70s! It really fills you in on current events and gives you a much deeper perspective on the evolving trends in the middle East. I also had never learned before about the thousands of US citizens living in Iran during the 60s and 70s under a government contract.

Kissinger Got Played

The author does an authoritative job reevaluating Kissinger's role, and utter failure, in the 1970s with respect to US foreign policy and oil.
While he doesn't use the words, it is quite clear from the evidence that Kissinger and Nixon both got played hard by the Shah and once there was minor push back from folks that weren't idiots (i.e. Treasury Secretary Bill Simon), the extent to wish the Shah had manipulated the upper crust of US diplomats and folks from the Nixon Administration becomes clear.

Brilliant and spell binding book