The Arab Oil Weapon

The use of oil as weapon by the Arabs was entirely related to their wars against Israel and the countries that aided Israel. Arab oil was controlled by Anglo-American oil companies, which, at that time, were target of nationalization. The Arabs were aware of that the state of Israel was implanted by the British mandate and protected later by the United States. Therefore, the use oil as weapon had political and economic objectives. Politically, the Arabs demanded Israeli withdrawal from the land it occupied in the 1967 war and the recognition of the rights of the Palestinians. Economically, oil producing Arab countries asserted sovereignty over their oil resources. They also calculated the effects of the oil embargo on the targeted states and the world oil marked. They knew oil had become indispensable cheap energy source of economic development and could easily damage economies of the targeted states. The oil weapon thus could provide an effective case of political pressure and economic coercion in the course of Arab–Israeli conflicts.