Oil—The Most Recent Years (2001–2013)

Abstract

In our view, the CIA-engineered ouster of Mohammad Mossadeq in 1953, although a regional event, was one of the two (the collapse of the Soviet Union the other) momentous events of the second half the of the twentieth century; an event that changed the course of Middle East history and had the most significant impact on Middle East-global, especially Middle East-US, relations. The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 against the United States by Al-Qaeda, aka 9/11, could turn out to be the momentous event of the first half of, or even of the entire twenty-first century. As in the case of Mossadeq’s ouster, 9/11 has led to a number of important and hard-to-predict events, especially in the United States, in the Persian Gulf region, and around the world that, in turn, may have consequences far beyond our imagination today and for years to come.