Synopses & Reviews
Although Africa has long been known to be rich in oil, extracting it hadnand#8217;t seemed worth the effort and risk until recently. But with the price of Middle Eastern crude oil skyrocketing and advancing technology making reserves easier to tap, the region has become the scene of a competition between major powers that recalls the nineteenth-century scramble for colonization there. Already the United States imports more of its oil from Africa than from Saudi Arabia, and China, too, looks to the continent for its energy security.What does this giddy new oil boom meanand#151;for America, for the world, for Africans themselves? To find out, John Ghazvinian traveled through twelve African countriesand#151;from Sudan to Congo to Angolaand#151;talking to warlords, industry executives, bandits, activists, priests, missionaries, oil-rig workers, scientists, and ordinary people whose lives have been transformedand#151;not necessarily for the betterand#151;by the riches beneath their feet. The result is a high-octane narrative that reveals the challenges, obstacles, reasons for despair, and reasons for hope emerging from the worldand#8217;s newest energy hot spot.
Review
"Like the cars that might one day make the Western world a bit less reliant on crude oil, Untapped is a hybrid; part travelogue, part analysis and part lament. It is also well timed."
Review
" ... [a] deftly reported book ... "
Review
"Ghazvinian, who has a doctorate in history from Oxford, a sure hand with economic theory, and a journalist's touch for capturing the telling detail, delivers an account that would be wildly entertaining if the story he was telling wasn't so full of heartbreaking poverty, venality, corruption and violence."
Review
"Untapped andnbsp;is John Ghazvinian's riveting account and superb analysis of what African oil means to a fuel-hungry world and to the African nations involved."
Review
PRAISE FOR
UNTAPPED and#147;[A] riveting account and superb analysis of what African oil means to a fuel-hungry world and to the African nations involved.and#8221;and#151;The Boston Globeand#160;
and#147;Perceptive . . . Untapped drills home the point . . . that a thoughtful strategy to lift the neglected bottom billion must compete against the global giants going about their business.and#8221;and#151;The New York Times
About the Author
JOHN GHAZVINIAN has a doctorate in history from Oxford. He has written for Newsweek, the Nation, Time Out New York, and other publications. Born in Iran and raised in London and Los Angeles, he currently lives in Philadelphia, where he teaches in the Critical Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
and#160;Prefaceand#160;ix
and#160;Introductionand#160;1
1.and#160;THE ONSHORE EFFECTand#160;17
2.and#160;THE OFFSHORE ILLUSIONand#160;83
3.and#160;and#147;A COUNTRY IN AFRICAand#8221;and#160;126
4.and#160;INSTANT EMIRATESand#160;166
5.and#160;PARADISE FOUND?and#160;207
6.and#160;THE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WAITand#160;245
7.and#160;THE CHINESE ARE COMING! . . . BUT WHO ISNand#8217;T?and#160;274
and#160;Epilogueand#160;296
and#160;Acknowledgmentsand#160;299
and#160;A Note on Sources and Suggested Further Readingand#160;302
and#160;Indexand#160;307