The Great Game for Oil: Iran, Gaza & the Geopolitics of Pipelines w/ Charlotte Dennett

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On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Charlotte Dennett joins us to discuss the geopolitics of oil, natural gas, pipelines, and the ongoing conflicts across the Middle East.

Charlotte Dennett is the author of Follow the Pipelines: Uncovering the Mystery of a Lost Spy and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil. Drawing on her research into the history of Middle Eastern oil politics and the mysterious death of her father, U.S. counterintelligence agent Daniel Dennett, Charlotte argues that energy resources and pipeline routes are essential to understanding conflicts that are often explained primarily through security, terrorism, ideology, or geopolitics.

We begin with the war with Iran and Charlotte's argument that the country's enormous oil reserves are an overlooked factor in understanding U.S. policy toward Tehran. We discuss the 1953 CIA-backed overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh following his nationalization of Iran's oil industry, the history of U.S. and British intervention in the Middle East, and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz.

From there, we examine the war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's interest in alternative oil routes that could bypass the Strait of Hormuz, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Charlotte discusses her argument that the development of new energy and trade corridors is crucial to understanding the strategic importance of Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the eastern Mediterranean.

We also discuss the war in Gaza and Charlotte's controversial argument that energy resources and proposed pipeline routes are part of the geopolitical calculations surrounding the destruction and depopulation of Gaza and southern Lebanon. Charlotte lays out her interpretation of the offshore oil and natural-gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and the potential strategic importance of Haifa as an energy hub.

The conversation then turns to October 7, Netanyahu, and Charlotte's argument that Israeli officials may have deliberately allowed the attack to occur or subsequently exploited the attack as a pretext for a much larger campaign in Gaza. We also discuss the historical relationship between oil politics and Israe