Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt, an Associate Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, discusses his book that uncovers the historical ties between American diplomacy, oil, and Arab nationalism in Iraq. He unravels the complex motivations behind U.S. intervention, highlighting oil's role amidst political turbulence. The conversation explores Nasser's neutrality during the Cold War, the dual identity shaped by oil in Iraq, and the impact of nationalization on Iraqi identity. Wolfe-Hunnicutt also reflects on his scholarly journey, focusing on overlooked voices in Middle Eastern history.
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Brandon's Path to Iraq Study
Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt was motivated to study US involvement in Iraq due to skepticism about the 2003 invasion's official reasons.
His interest grew from early undergrad research into CIA involvement and oil politics shaping US-Iraq relations.
insights INSIGHT
US Policy Divided by Competing Lobbies
US policy often prioritized satisfying the Israel lobby over protecting oil companies' interests.
This tension explains why US intervention did not always align with oil companies' desires.
insights INSIGHT
Intervention Delayed Iraq's Oil Nationalization
US and Western-backed coups delayed Iraq's oil nationalization efforts multiple times during the 1960s.
Iraq's 1972 successful nationalization challenged the Seven Sisters' dominance and inspired regional oil sovereignty moves.
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Published in 1927, 'Oil!' by Upton Sinclair is a novel that delves into the early days of the California oil industry. The story follows Bunny Ross, the son of oil magnate J. Arnold Ross, as he navigates his father's business and grapples with his own ethical and intellectual conflicts. The novel critiques the unregulated capitalist system, highlighting issues of corporate corruption, government collusion, and the exploitation of workers. It also features a rich portrayal of California culture in the 1920s, including the oil boom, Hollywood, and the broader social landscape of the time.
The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy
Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq
Brandon Wolf-Hunnicutt
Carbon Democracy
Political Power in the Age of Oil
Timothy Mitchell
The Prize
The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
Daniel Yergin
The Prize chronicles the struggle for wealth and power that has surrounded oil for over a century. The book spans from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm, and the Iraq War, to current climate change. It is a definitive work on the subject of oil, addressing its role in shaping major world events, global power dynamics, and the ongoing energy crisis. Yergin's narrative includes the rise of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the discovery of oil in various regions, and the geopolitical clashes over oil resources, making it crucial for understanding world politics and the global economy[2][3][5].
A new history of Middle East oil and the deep roots of American violence in Iraq. Iraq has been the site of some of the United States' longest and most sustained military campaigns since the Vietnam War. Yet the origins of US involvement in the country remain deeply obscured--cloaked behind platitudes about advancing democracy or vague notions of American national interests. Historian Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt's work, The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq (Stanford University Press, 2021) exposes the origins and deep history of U.S. intervention in Iraq. The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy weaves together histories of Arab nationalists, US diplomats, and Western oil execs to tell the parallel stories of the Iraq Petroleum Company and the resilience of Iraqi society. Drawing on new evidence--the private records of the IPC, interviews with key figures in Arab oil politics, and recently declassified US government documents--Wolfe-Hunnicutt covers the arc of the 20th century, from the pre-WWI origins of the IPC consortium and decline of British Empire, to the beginnings of covert US action in the region, and ultimately the nationalization of the Iraqi oil industry and perils of postcolonial politics. American policymakers of the Cold War-era inherited the imperial anxieties of their British forebears and inflated concerns about access to and potential scarcity of oil, giving rise to a "paranoid style" in US foreign policy. Wolfe-Hunnicutt deconstructs these policy practices to reveal how they fueled decades of American interventions in the region and shines a light on those places that America's covert empire-builders might prefer we not look.
Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt is Associate Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History and American Foreign policy at California State University, Stanislaus.
Saman Nasser holds an M.A. in World History from James Madison University, where he currently works as an administrative staff.
New Books in Middle Eastern Studies 
