"The world's rapidly growing economy is dependent on oil, the supply is running out and the U.S. and other great powers are engaged in an escalating game of brinkmanship to secure its continued free flow. Such is the premise of Klare's powerful and brilliant new book (following Resource Wars). The U.S. — with less than 5% of the world's total population — consumes about 25% of the world's total supply of oil, he argues. With no meaningful conservation being attempted, Klare sees the nation's energy behavior dominated by four key trends: 'an increasing need for imported oil; a pronounced shift toward unstable and unfriendly suppliers in dangerous parts of the world; a greater risk of anti-American or civil violence; and increased competition for what will likely be a diminishing supply pool.' In clear, lucid prose, Klare lays out a disheartening and damning indictment of U.S. foreign policy. From the waning days of WWII, when Franklin Roosevelt gave legitimacy to the autocratic Saudi royalty, to the current conflict in Iraq, Klare painstakingly describes a nation controlled by its unquenchable thirst for oil. Rather than setting out a strategy for energy independence, he finds a roadmap for further U.S. dependence on imported oil, more exposure for the U.S. military overseas and, as a result, less safety for Americans at home and abroad. While Klare offers some positive suggestions for solving the problem, in tone and detail this work sounds a dire warning about the future of the world. Illus. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Compelling and insightful...This powerful book forecasts that if we do not change the paradigm, the flow of blood will continue unabated while a dwindling supply of oil will threaten powerful and weak nations alike." H.C. Stackpole, Lieutenant General, USMC (ret.)

"Blood and Oil is the most comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of America's military-petroleum complex available today. From our gluttonous demand for fuel to power our automobiles to the activities of Centcom in the Persian Gulf, Michael Klare is invariably incisive and accurate." Chalmers Johnson, author of The Sorrows of Empire

"Blood and Oil proves that oil's substitutes?and especially their efficient use?are an even greater bargain than they look. Too much time has already been wasted on denial. America's security, power, and freedom now turn on our choice." Amory B. Lovins, Cofounder and CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute

"A must read for Americans concerned about national security and economic growth." Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and former Assistant Secretary of Defense

"Blood and Oil throws into sharp relief the political and social dimensions of the most important problem of our times. Reasoned and readable, it sketches out the terrible consequences of our nation's immense and growing addiction to petroleum. This is an important book." David Goodstein, author of Out of Gas

"Donald Rumsfeld famously declared that the Iraq War ?has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.? Nonsense, demonstrates Michael Klare, in Blood and Oil, a compelling new assessment of America?s bet on Middle Eastern oil as the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Klare?s mastery of the interplay of natural resources and conflict is unrivaled, and his new study is timely and vitally important." Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University

From the author of Resource Wars comes a landmark assessment of the critical role of petroleum in America's actions abroad. With clarity and urgency, Blood and Oil delineates the United States' predicament and cautions that it is time to change the country's energy policies, before it spends the next decades paying for oil with blood.