The author traces the development of petroleum commodity markets, then examines the quest by producers and consumers for stability in world oil markets. He finds that modest producer and consumer gains can be realized through negotiations that achieve removal of barriers to trade, elimination of hurdles to foreign investment, and strengthening of financial institutions.

Verleger examines this quest for stability in world oil markets. He finds that modest gains can be achieved through negotiations between producers and consumers if agreements emphasize the removal of barriers to trade, elimination of hurdles to foreign investment in the energy sector, and improvement of institutions that guarantee against contractual default. commodities and concludes that, given their failure and the structure of current oil markets, the probability for success of an agreement on oil is remote. Moreover, he shows that an oil price stabilization agreement would impose enormous costs on consumers and that such an agreement is unnecessary given the introduction of new financial instruments that reduce the risk of price fluctuations for both consumers and producers.

"The real story of global oil over the past twenty-five years is not about the spillover effects of Palestinians fighting Israelis, or terrorist attacks on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, or Iraq's stormy relationship with Kuwait. It is not even about periodic small- and large-scale U.S. attacks on Iraq. Rather, the real story is about longer-term developments that have changed the international relations of the Middle East, politics at the global level, and world oil markets. These developments have increased oil stability."—from the Introduction Thirty years after OAPEC shattered world markets for oil, the Western world remains profoundly dependent on foreign, particularly Middle Eastern, sources of petroleum. U.S. political rhetoric is suffused with claims about the vulnerability caused by this dependence. Hence, many political analysts assume that a search for stability of petroleum supplies is an important element of contemporary American foreign policy. Steve A. Yetiv argues that common assumptions about oil markets are wrong. Although prices remain volatile, Yetiv's account portrays a world market in petroleum products far more benign and predictable than the one to which we are accustomed. In Crude Awakenings, he identifies and analyzes real and potential threats to the global energy supply, including wars, revolutions, coups, dangerous alliances, oil embargoes, Islamic radicalism, and transnational terrorism. However, he also shows how some of these threats have been mitigated and how global oil security has been reinforced.

The dollar rose about 35 percent in real terms from 1995 to the end of 2001, supporting the US economy of the late 1990s but pushing the current account deficit to a record high. This book looks at the impact of this, examining intervention to achieve desired currency values and the impact of a major dollar realignment on worldwide economies.

This book provides fresh insights into concepts, methods and new research findings on the causes of excessive food price volatility. It also discusses the implications for food security and policy responses to mitigate excessive volatility. The approaches applied by the contributors range from on-the-ground surveys, to panel econometrics and innovative high-frequency time series analysis as well as computational economics methods. It offers policy analysts and decision-makers guidance on dealing with extreme volatility.