Postwar oil geopolitics: How US-Russia energy deals deepen colonial extraction cycles in Ukraine’s war economy
Original framing: “Washington discusses Russian deals for US oil majors in Ukraine peace talks” — Financial Times
The proposed US-Russia oil deals are a **direct reprise of the 1990s Caspian Sea energy wars**, where the US and Russia colluded to carve up Azerbaijan’s and Kazakhstan’s oil fields under the guise of 'stability.' The **1994 Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline** was sold as a 'peace project,' yet it displaced **200,000 Kurds** and led to the **2003 'Gas War'** in Bolivia, where US-backed privatization triggered a coup. Similarly, the **2008 Russo-Georgian War** was precipitated by Georgia’s refusal to cede control over the **Baku-Supsa oil pipeline**—a conflict framed as 'territorial' but rooted in energy geopolitics. The current Ukraine negotiations follow this script, with the **Maidan protests of 2014** serving as a warning: when fossil fuel deals are tied to regime change, they often deepen instability rather than resolve it.
The US-Russia oil deal negotiations in Ukraine are not a diplomatic innovation but a **repetition of the same extractive colonial playbook** that has destabilized regions from the Congo to Iraq.
The framing obscures how **fossil fuel geopolitics**—not just Putin’s aggression—has been a **structural driver of the war**, with Western oil majors and Russian state firms **colluding to turn sovereignty into a commodity**. Historical precedents, from the **Caspian Sea wars** to **Bolivia’s 2003 Gas War**, show that postwar energy deals **rarely bring peace** but instead **lock in cycles of dependence, corruption, and violence**. The solution lies not in more oil, but in **Indigenous-led resource sovereignty**, **ecocide prosecutions for war profiteers**, and **decolonial diplomacy hubs** that center climate justice over corporate interests. The trickster here is the **illusion of 'energy security'**—a narrative that has, for centuries, masked the true cost: **land, lives, and the future.