ABSTRACT
Geopolitics and oil have been closely intertwined for a very long time. Geopolitics or the efforts undertaken by a state to advance its political and economic interests abroad has a natural affinity with petroleum because oil is essential for the functioning of modern economies and military organizations and because it is only found in certain areas of the world. In the wake of these developments, then President Jimmy Carter and his top advisers determined that The United State (US) interests in the Gulf had become too great to be entrusted into the hands of surrogates and so would have to come under the direct protection of American forces. After World War II, the Europeans declined in importance while the USA and the Soviet Union reigned supreme. But a host of new players, including China and India, have come to the fore; and while the Soviet Union is no more, Russia has emerged as major player in its own right.
