Imperialist Economics and the New Cold War
Western capitalist states continue efforts to dominate world system
Since late last year there has been a precipitous decline in the
prices of oil and other commodities produced in large measure by
countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Russia and Latin America.
The United States under the Obama administration has developed a
concerted energy policy to boost domestic oil and natural gas production
in an effort to lessen dependence on foreign states for essential
transportation and concomitant needs related to petroleum and related
industries.
One country on the African continent, the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, represents a case in point when analyzing the role of oil in
the economic trajectory of a post-colonial territory. 101 years ago the
British consolidated their control over Nigeria as an imperialist
outpost for London.
During the mid-1950s, a number of western-based oil firms such as
Shell entered the country to exploit its natural resources. By the time
of independence in 1960, the country contrived by the British was split
in several essential ways where the production of oil was largely
centered in the southeast. A three-year civil war in which Biafra
attempted to separate from the broader state failed leading to a
heightened level of oil exploitation resulting to the country becoming
the dominant producer on the continent.
The U.S. utilization of oil led to a strong economic relationship
between Washington, Wall Street and Nigeria. Successive U.S.
administrations sought to maintain good relations with Nigeria in order
to encourage the stability of a unitary state and the continued supply
of oil.
