THE OIL WEAPON.(Column)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 10-FEB-03

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COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

On October 14, 1973, in one of the biggest tank battles in history, Israeli forces routed an invading Egyptian Army, destroying about two hundred and fifty tanks and losing just twenty-five. Two days later, the Israelis--who had been aided by an American airlift of military supplies--crossed over the Suez Canal and into Egypt. In retaliation, the Arab members of OPEC declared an oil embargo against the United States, ordering a series of production cutbacks and royalty increases that tripled the price of oil. Long gas lines became commonplace and the U.S. economy fell into a recession. In a nod to austerity, Richard Nixon decreed that the national Christmas tree would go unlit.

Thirty years later, we can't see past that darkened tree. The embargo, which lasted only a few months, still shapes the way we think about the politics and economics of oil. Ever since, the spectre of Arab countries...

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