Kanwar, Ranvir Singh (2000) States, firms, and oil : British policy, 1939-54. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

New
evidence
from the records of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now British
Petroleum) and Shell for the period,
1939-45 supplements accounts of British
oil relations
based on state archives. This historical account demonstrates the continuity between the
interwar industry cartel and the Allied
wartime collaboration orchestrated through industry
committees. The
companies made use of their quasi-official position to manage crisis of
prewar arrangements aggravated by the war which presaged the rapid expansion of
postwar Middle East production. The companies then shaped the Anglo-American Oil
Agreements of
1944
and 1945, establishing a
basis for
remaking their position
in the
Middle East, expanding the web of
interfirm
relations. The nationalisation of
Anglo-
Iranian in 1951 threatened the web and the companies were able to embargo nationalised
Iranian oil and thus bankrupt the state. This society of oil majors was constituted by
shared
understandings and interests cultivated by the companies.

Structures of private governance may be quite significant factors for
states allied to them.
The United Kingdom
was more closely tied into the system of private governance that
prevailed in international oil
in the middle
decades of the century than was the United
States and consequently was able to call on more resources to resist
United States
initiatives during this period. British influence persisted in the oil
issue-area, in
spite of
greater
United States resources overall, because of this close working relationship
between state and companies. Close examination of the relationship reveals the extent of
penetration by the companies into both the decision-malting and implementation of
foreign
relations. The `national' interest was thus articulated through an interplay of
Governmental
and corporate agendas, and this supports a general argument that `national' power
is not
exercised solely
by the state, but by the state in
cooperation with other powerful social
institutions. Non-state actors and their archives may enrich the study of foreign relations.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Alternative Title:	States, firms, and oil : British policy, 1939-1954
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Petroleum industry and trade -- Great Britain, Anglo-Iranian Oil Dispute, 1951-1954, Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- Iran, Iran -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain, British Petroleum Company
Official Date:	22 June 2000
Dates:	Date Event 22 June 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Jones, Charles A., 1949-
Extent:	v, 317 leaves : maps
Language:	eng

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