“Oil companies are the original multinationals, and petroleum the original branded product. Long before Nike and Adidas realised that in order to sell identical running shoes they needed to create a recognisable brand, Shell, Standard and Gulf were stamping their logos on oil cans, tankers and filling stations. These giant corporations were among the first to create integrated chains of production and distribution, operating across continents and time zones to keep the oil flowing. Modern capitalist society was transformed by cheap, plentiful oil in the early part of the 20th century; 100 years later the addiction is just as powerful, and despite dwindling reserves oil consumption is raising steadily. The bulk of remaining oil supplies lies in the Middle East.

 

The oil pipeline makes a good metaphor for the operation of multinational capital. It sucks out profit by the gallon and channels it straight into the pockets of the rich and powerful. For ordinary people there is no ‘trickle-down’ effect. They are simply bypassed by the wealth they helped to create. Although they live in a region producing one of the most valuable commodities on Earth, the majority of people of the Middle East live in poverty… 

These oil companies have never been content to rely on the free market alone to guarantee to the precious deposits of oil. The history of the Middle East shows clearly the intimate connection between globalisation and imperialism. Ever since gunboats arrived at Alexandria in 1882 to guarantee the profits of British speculators, the interests of capital and the practice of imperialism have gone hand-in-hand. The US, which is currently the dominant power in the region, follows two strategies to ensure that oil supplies remain ultimately under American control. Firstly, through the usual methods of International Monetary Fund (IMF) bullying, arms dealing and occasional direct military intervention to remind local rulers where their loyalties should lie. But secondly and more importantly through support for Israel. This tiny state is the largest recipient of US aid in the world, much of it in the form of sophisticated military hardware. Israel is a much more reliable ally than rickety monarchies and ailing juntas in the rest of the Middle East. As the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz explained in 1951:

 

‘If for any reasons the Western powers should sometimes prefer to close their eyes, Israel could be relied upon to punish one or several neighboring states whose discourtesy to the West went beyond the bounds of permissible.’”

(Susan George, George Monbiot, Lindsey German, Teresa Hayter, Alex Callinicos, Kim Moody, Anti Capitalism a guide to the movement, p. 186-187, London, Sydney 2001)