The Geo-Politics of Oil

Oil and pipelines are among the most important driving forces of international politics in this century. With energy demand soaring in industrialising Asia, and the resurgence of great power rivalries, the politics and practicalities of oil become central to a proper understanding of world affairs. Often new energy supply routes fall across political fault-lines, as in the case of India and Pakistan, or lie at the heart of politics itself, as in Iraq.

In his groundbreaking book, Kandiyoti takes us along pipeline networks, from Kandahar to the Caspian basin in China, and shows us how they form the foundation of the new geopolitical order. Muttitt's gripping and far-reaching investigation looks behind the scenes of the occupation of Iraq to answer one of the war's most pressing questions: what is happening to Iraq's oil and how will instability in the region affect our future?

In conversation with Ritula Shah, presenter of BBC's World Tonight and Saturday PM.