Australia should pay close attention to the plight of the Gulf Arab regimes, since their foreign policy of strategic dependence on the US resembles our own.
In the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the Arab oil embargo that led to fuel shortages and price hikes in the West, the royal families that rule the Arab petro-states signed a security agreement with Washington that saw OPEC oil sales denominated in US dollars, to be then spent on US bases, weapons and treasury bonds.
This arrangement, known as the petro-dollar system, positioned America as the guarantor of security in the Persian Gulf. The Arab regimes believed they could trust the US and rely on its military bases and weapons systems to protect them from any threat to their authority. It’s now clear their faith in US power was misplaced, and we could face the same fate if America starts a war with China.
The petrodollar system has been the engine of US hegemony on the world stage, creating the demand for US dollars that’s enabled the massive growth in US debt, which now threatens the global economy as US debt crisis looms ahead. This mega protection racket, which has sustained itself for decades on the promise of peace, security and prosperity for all, without ever actually delivering, is now unravelling as a result of the illegal unprovoked aggression against Iran.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
