Tuesday, August 26, 2008

"...why the 21st century might prove difficult - even painful - for America..."

Fabius Maximus on Pat Lang and America, here

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am not really sure what Fabius Maximus is trying to say. He is clearly a proponent of 'peak oil' theory, which may or may not be true. Only time will tell. There is plenty of evidence of untapped sources of oil in the ME, notably in offshore Lebanon. I am not really a buyer of 'peak oil' theory but I do not dismiss it altogether. Which brings us to the beef FM has Col. Lang.
I think saying that oil is outside the expertise of strategic military analysts, which Col. Lang is, and an emeritus one even by the admission of FM, is like saying that a military person is not familiar with powder and ammunition. Oil has been the prime mover of US foreign policy over the last 5 decades and hence no military analyst worth his salt can ignore the issue of oil.
Now to put to task the various explanations of high oil prices given in 'informed media sources' is a different proposition. FM does not like the speculation theory but prefers the 'peak oil' theory that triggers fears. Unfortunately for him, the evidence is lacking. It is difficult to understand how the price of oil can jump and then regress (fromless than $100 to near $140 and then fall back to less than $125) on the basis of the theory of 'peak oil'. Anyway, it is a debate that goes beyond the scope of the blog. For FM info, a blog is not necessarily an academic forum but that of various opinions that may be confirmed or debunked elsewhere. It is a source or food for thought, nothing more, nothing less. And it should be like that.