World War IV

Bacevich argues that World War IV (the Cold War counts as #3) began in 1980, with Carter’s declaration that America would protect its vital interests in the Persian Gulf. While Reagan’s presidency was publicly focused on the Cold War, World War IV was already underway, with American interventions in Lebanon, Libya, the Iran-Iraq war, and Afghanistan. Though these seem disconnected, Bacevich sees important continuities:

“First, and most notably, all four occurred in the Greater Middle East, hitherto not the site of frequent U.S. military activity. Second, none of the four episodes can be fully understood except in relation to global reserves of fossil fuels and America’s growing dependence on imported oil. Although energy considerations did not drive U.S. actions in every instance, they always looked in the background, sometimes figuring prominently.” Lebanon did not export oil, but “Lebanon’s woes mattered to the United States because instability there threatened to undermine the precarious stability of the region as a whole and that, in turn, could threaten the West’s supply of oil.”