The Shah was brought into power due to a UK, US orchestrated coup in response to Iran nationalizing its oil. The Shah thought that Iran would become the fifth most industrialized country in the world in five years. He said it was cheaper to use oil as a fuel to provide 24-hour ventilation than to have door knobs, open windows, etc. This he said was what the affluent societies of the world did if provided with cheap oil. They were waiting that humanity and posterity would stop the waste of this precious premium natural resource.
Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The second in a two-part series on the 20th-century history of petrostates, petrocapitalists, and the world system.
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