Blood Oil
Leif Wenar
Blood
Oil seeks to make the reader aware of how purchasing numerous items
that we consume without much thought, be they clothes, electronics or
food, which were produced with petroleum and its by-products, are
potentially propping up authoritarian rulers who have misappropriated
revenues by selling their countries resources without any oversight.
Wenar
argues that natural resources of a country rightly belong to the
sovereign people and not to an individual dictator, authoritarian
leader, middle eastern monarch or a militia group. As we cannot know
the source of the resources (oil, gas, cobalt, diamonds etc.) which
go into the products we consume, our purchases could be funding,
enriching and helping these rulers who oppress their own people. We
therefore, need to think more about our actions and our
responsibility to see that we can be part of a solution, rather than
the problem.
Wenar
offers solutions in the form of Clean Trade policies, which aim to
make those authoritarian leaders with resources more accountable to
their own people and in the longer run create a more just society
where those people are the ultimate beneficiaries of their
resources.
I found
this to be an engaging and interesting work. It's a long book and one
that should really be studied rather than simply read, as it covers a
lot of ground. I think it will be of interest to anyone interested
in international affairs and global issues.
I would
like to thank Oxford University Press and Goodreads Giveaway program
for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a review. I should
also note that as a King's College, London graduate, I was pleased to
see that the author currently holds the Chair of Philosophy and Law
at King's.
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