Download or read book Arms for Oil written by Michael Barratt Brown and published by Spokesman Books. This book was released on 2005 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is a fact, an unfortunate fact, that economic relations between the West and the Arab and other Islamic countries could for many years be described accurately in just three words Oil for Arms or alternatively Arms for Oil. This has a long history going back to the First World War, when the Ottoman Empire was broken up between the British and French Empires and client regimes were established in the newly created states. The Second World War brought in the American Empire, but the main purpose of all these empires was to control the rich oil reserves in the region. Arms were supplied as necessary to maintain the client regimes in power. This became essential if oil was to remain cheap.