I am usually a big fan of anything the Media Education Foundation puts out, and their Blood and Oil certainly qualifies. Many of their videos focus on one expert, often based on a book that this person has written. This is the case with Blood and Oil which features Michael T. Klare and is based on his book Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum. Part of me is a little put off by this method. I would like to hear other voices to help verify or confront the main speaker’s points. That said, Klare is an expert in the field with an impressive resume; however nothing about his background is presented in the film. Blood and Oil could have benefited from providing some information about Klare’s background. I found myself wondering why I should listen to this guy and felt compelled to look him up after the fact.

Blood and Oil opens with the question of whether the war in Iraq was motivated by the quest to secure their oil. It then traces the history of the United States relationship with the Middle East in terms of how its foreign policy was based on oil. It does so through Klare’s expert research and through well-chosen archival footage. Blood and Oil provides a fascinating look how World War II, when the U.S. went through 1/3 of its reserves, helped form FDR’s realization that the U.S. could not remain oil dependent forever, and how he met with the leader of Saudi Arabia to provide protect to the Saudi’s in return for the right to develop their oil. Blood and Oil traces how that arrangement has affected U.S. foreign policy ever since.

Despite my initial reservation about the lack of diverse speakers, I found Blood and Oil to be an interesting and necessary film to view.