Do petrostates rule the world? A conversation with Emma Ashford

Black gold: Oil is responsible for making great powers, provoking endless military conflict, and splitting the world between dependents and power brokers. There is nothing like a petrostate, says Emma Ashford, who just released the book, "Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates." Emma's book explores why this resource is the most powerful driver of not only global economics, but politics and foreign policy, and how its influence is a lead actor in today's headlines, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and global inflation. In the first segment, Kelley & Dan discuss Ben Sasse's sassy foreign policy speech calling out American "defeatists" and "isolationists."

More from Emma Ashford:

Is Biden Being Machiavellian or Misguided on Taiwan? -- Foreign Policy, 5/27/22

NATO Should Think Twice Before Accepting Finland and Sweden -- Bloomberg, 5/30/22

How the War in Ukraine Could Get Much Worse, w/ Josh Shifrinson -- Foreign Affairs, 3/22/22