The notion that oil motivates America's military engagements in the Middle East is often disregarded as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. In Blood and Oil, bestselling author and Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare challenges this conventional wisdom and corrects the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years -- rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable.

In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.

Michael T. Klare
Michael T. Klare, one of the world's most renowned experts on energy and security issues, is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies (a joint appointment at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst) and Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies (PAWSS), positions he has held since 1985. He is the author of thirteen books, including, most recently Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Metropolitan Books, 2008), Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (Metropolitan Books, 2004), and Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (Metropolitan Books, 2001).

Professor Klare has written widely on U.S. defense policy, the arms trade, global resource politics, and world security affairs. He is the defense correspondent of The Nation magazine and a Contributing Editor of Current History. He also regularly contributes to various publications including Foreign Affairs, ForeignPolicy, Harper's, International Security, Le Monde Diplomatique, Newsweek, Scientific American, Technology Review, Third World Quarterly, and World Policy Journal. Professor Klare received his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University in 1963 and 1968, respectively, and his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of the Union Institute in 1976.