THE LONG VIEW

It began not with a war, but with a well: the first gusher in Spindletop, Texas, in 1901, which set the United States on a path to becoming both an industrial and imperial power. Over the next century, a quiet doctrine emerged—one never written in official policy, but enacted again and again—where control of oil was deemed more vital than the preservation of peace. In 1953, when Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the British and Americans didn’t negotiate; they orchestrated a coup, reinstalling the Shah and securing Western access to Iranian oil [1]. Decades later, when Saddam Hussein threatened Gulf supply lines in 1990, the U.S. led a coalition to liberate Kuwait, not out of altruism, but because the stability of the global economy depended on uninterrupted oil flows [2]. Fast-forward to today, and the script has evolved but not changed: the weapon is no longer just the tank or the bomb, but the shale rig, the financial sanction, and the targeted drone strike. When the U.S. moves against Iran’s leadership, it is not merely punishing a rival—it is protecting the architecture of energy dominance that has underpinned American power since the 20th century. And just as Mossadegh’s fall reshaped the Middle East, so too might Khamenei’s reported death signal a new phase in the global energy war—one where control of the spigot is the ultimate geopolitical leverage [3]. [1] Kinzer, S. (2003). *All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror*. John Wiley & Sons. [2] Yergin, D. (1991). *The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power*. Simon & Schuster. [3] BBC News. (2020). *US-Iran tensions: What is the Strait of Hormuz?* https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11553183 —Sir Edward Pemberton