Should Germany join the United States as a superpower?

[phylo_roadking]

...it's worth 50c a gallon at the pumps until the new domestic fields are opened....

[statemachine]

That would be 50 cents to all consumers.Some mighty big shoes to fill if the U.S takes them off.

[phylo_roadking]

The U.S. keeps Saudi Arabia and the Gulf area secure for the Saudi royal family - that's why basically they paid for the original Desert Storm. They only got a certain amount of peace by paying off Al-Qaeda, and IIRC stopped paying that afew years ago. The U.S. can't afford to leave, to leave the present bulk of its oil supplies unprotected - and its future interests in the huge untapped fields right under downtown Baghdad that Saddam never exploited. Because of that stability that the U.S. guarantees for the Saudis and Saudi interests - OPEC will remain intact, and thus the present shape of the world's oil market will be preserved.

[august]

the us will be leaving by 2011. keeping forces in the middle east only bolsters al-qaeda.

[statemachine]

I really doubt the U.S(and Britain)will be leaving anytime soon,august.This region needs to be kept secure for more than just the benefit of the Saudis,there are a number of multinationals dipping their beaks here.It's almost like the old days of the Iraq Petroleum Company.It's been going on for a hundred years.

[phylo_roadking]

Yes, but keeping Saudi Arabia intact and in the state we know it protects OPEC. Take away OPEC - and we really WILL be fighting over oil; cartels may work to artifically peg prices, but they DO provide one guaranteed channel to liaise/negotiate with, and they do peg prices up or down but predictably unless in the event of something like a Six Day war LOL. The U.S. government may not like OPEC's prices, but it does understand the benefits of a regulatory body.

OPEC will die a death however WHEN the U.S. doesn't need to rely on oil bought on the open market; but once Iraqi oil starts to flow - straight to U.S. ports by treaty, and tied down and mortgaged to the U.S. for the next several geological eons and added to the output of all these nice new domestic fields that have been argued over for the last year... once the U.S.' oil future is safe for the U.S.....no more support and protection for the Saudis, who are the backbone of OPEC, and the rest of us can go hang at the same time.

THAT'S the U.S.' problem - that the greater part of it's vital lifeblood still flows in from outside.

But two things are going to happen now; U.S. demand is going to decline as - let's face it - U.S. industry packs up...and all those new fields in areas of designated scientific and environmental interest will be online in the next few years. The closer that guaranteed oil from domestic sources and "tied" suppliers like Iraq come to becoming the majority part of that falling demand for oil - the more chance of a new wave of American isolationism.

Especially now that the "enemy" is sailing as close as off the coast of Venezuela tonight and Cuba in the next few days....

[statemachine]

Production in Iraq was kept low for decades,because the British,Dutch,French and American biggies wanted to keep the price healthy.As seen when the Americans gave a low growl towards the Chinese over the Alberta oilsands,I really believe the Americans want to control oil till the last barrel.All those greenie technologies won't mean very much to military vehicles any time soon.The endgame will likely be played with oil.Yeah,Chavez that little....

[Annelie]

Just heard on the radio that the oil fields that were depeleted are replenishing themselves?
That might make a difference in the future?

[statemachine]

Which fields?They may be using one of various technologies to extract more,that's common.

[Annelie]

Which fields

They didn't say, the program was about the economy which briefly touched on the subject of oil.

[august]

we have gotten way off topic here. germany should quadruple her military spending and foster an attitude of self reliance for self defense. this should be duplicated by the uk, france, and italy.

[statemachine]

And how long till Boris expresses displeasure?

[phylo_roadking]

So?

Boris is WHY they should...

[statemachine]

I can see the U.K,France and Italy gradually ramping up.Germany doing so might bring decided unease.I'm not sure there is a really valid reason for Germany to increase defense spending on visible arnaments.There are many other ways Germany could contribute,without triggering any hysteria.

[phylo_roadking]

The problem is - no European country NOW has the money to do so. Britain is very nearly bankrupt because it's busy fighting a war, and certainly doesn't have enough to expand her armed forces. She can't even maintain the forces she has properly.