Systemic risks to global gas supply: How geopolitical conflicts and fossil fuel dependency amplify energy price volatility
Original framing: “Why Middle East gas field attacks could send energy prices soaring” — The Conversation - Global
The original framing omits the historical context of Western interference in Middle Eastern energy politics, such as the 1953 Iranian coup or the 2003 Iraq War, which destabilized the region and created the conditions for current conflicts. It also ignores the role of indigenous and local communities in resisting fossil fuel extraction, as well as the potential of renewable energy transitions to reduce geopolitical tensions. Additionally, it fails to center the voices of affected populations in Gaza, Yemen, or Syria, whose suffering is instrumentalized to justify energy market narratives.
Medium structural omission detected in mainstream coverage.
The narrative is produced by Western-centric media outlets like *The Conversation*, which often frame Middle Eastern conflicts through the lens of energy security for global markets rather than local human security. This framing serves the interests of fossil fuel corporations, Western governments, and financial elites who benefit from energy price volatility and the perception of scarcity. It obscures the agency of regional actors—particularly Iran and Israel—whose actions are rooted in decades of colonial-era resource extraction, regime change operations, and the imposition of neoliberal energy policies.
The modern Middle Eastern energy crisis is rooted in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which carved up the region along colonial lines to serve European energy needs. Subsequent interventions—such as the 1956 Suez Crisis, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and the 2003 Iraq War—were driven by Western powers' desire to control oil flows. These historical patterns reveal a cycle of resource extraction, regime change, and resistance that continues to shape today's conflicts.
The Middle East gas field attacks are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a deeper systemic crisis rooted in colonial-era resource extraction, neoliberal energy governance, and the weaponization of scarcity.