Decolonisation movements sought to win sovereignty and control over national resources, especially oil. This lecture explores oil’s influence on national independence struggles, from the 1955 Bandung Conference to the rise of OPEC and the nationalisation of crude reserves. It examines how these shifts reshaped global power, exposing both the successes and limits of decolonisation, and their contemporary relevance to understanding the roots of today’s climate crisis.

This lecture was recorded by Adam Hanieh on the 15th of May 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

Adam Hanieh is Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (UK).

He is also a Research Fellow at the Transnational Institute and held a Political Economy Fellowship from the Independent Social Research Foundation in 2023, which traced the new geographical linkages between the oil-producing states of the Middle East and China/East Asia. Hanieh is the author of four books, including Money, Markets, and Monarchies (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won the 2019 British International Studies Association International Political Economy Group Book Prize. His most recent book Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market came out with Verso Books in 2024.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/oil-decolonisation

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Oil, Decolonisation, and the Future of the Climate Emergency - Adam Hanieh

Gresham College Lectures

Oil, Decolonisation, and the Future of the Climate Emergency - Adam Hanieh