The Mexican expropriation of British and American properties in March 1938 marked the first time any oil-producing country successfully stood up to foreign companies who claimed to own oil properties in that country and who had the support of their respective governments. Totally reliant on overseas oil at a time when war seemed imminent, British officials responsible for policy toward Mexico immediately emphasized the importance of preventing other oil-exporting nations from following Mexico's lead. Washington also sought to make an example of Mexico—one that would guarantee respect for U.S. businesses operating abroad. Although both Washington and London wanted to return to the pre-expropriation status quo, Washington was unwilling to work with London to achieve this goal, and Washington's attitude paralleled its reaction to British efforts to get U.S. support on certain defense issues during this critical period. The resulting Anglo-American strife over how to handle Mexico was also consistent with Anglo-American commercial competition and the oil rivalry in Mexico early in the century.

Gripping account of oil's role in world politics and conflicts througout the 20th century and beyond.

One of the least well-known and least discussed struggles of the 20th century was played out between the British and the Americans. From before World War I to the end of World War II, Great Britain and the United States vied with each other throughout the world to control the supply of oil. The Anglo-American Oil War examines this power struggle - identified by contemporaries as an oil war - and demonstrates how America's increasing dominance over the oilfields reflected wider shifts in international relations. During the first half of the 20th century, the strategic and economic importance of petroleum helped to define relations between the United States and Great Britain. While both governments sought to control oil resources within their own political sphere of influence, they frequently came into direct conflict over the control of oil. From the first hints of diplomatic discord over the course of the Mexican Revolution, through the British discovery of oil in Iraq, competition over the Kuwait concession, the oil strike in Masjid-e Sulaiman to the negotiation of the Anglo-American Oil Agreement in 1944 which, in theory, settled the dispute, the oil war offers a fascinating and revealing reflection of the transfer of hegemony from Great Britain to the United States

Middle East oil and Anglo-American special relations were among the most contentious issues during the Cold War. Oil is crucial to our understanding of Britain's and the USA's Cold War policies in the Middle East. This book presents an in-depth study of the issues of the period and the legacy of oil in the post Cold war era.