IntroductionIn our society, oil is one of the basic needs. Whether driving from point A to point B or flying between distant countries, oil has always had a fundamental impact on our civilization. Its impact is felt on a daily basis and in many aspects. Not a day goes by without hearing about the changing undulation of Brent, on the New York or London markets. Some believe that the desire to gain control of Iran's oil resources was at the heart of the CIA's intervention in that country in the 1950s. In recent years, left-wing groups have seen the war in Iraq as based on a attempted foreign control of Iraqi oil resources. Although these two events occupy an undisputed place in the politics and history of the region, they will not be part of the analytical structure of this article. Instead, he will talk about the 1973-1974 oil embargo and determine what theory could explain such a decision. This article will detail previous embargoes used in the region's recent history, before examining the 1973 embargo in depth.Regional history (1956-1973)1956: Suez Crisis and nationalization of Iranian oil1956 marks the first time when Arab oil-exporting countries decide to use oil as a weapon to achieve their political goals. That year, the Egyptian Nasser decided to nationalize the Suez Canal. For the Egyptian leader, the canal symbolized foreign exploitation in Egypt. By taking such a step, the leader thought he would give economic independence to his country. This approach by the patriarch of Nasserism provoked reprisals from 3 military forces: the British, the French and the Israelis. Across the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia saw everything happening...... middle of paper ......hs and it ended at the Khartoum summit, in August 1967. At the summit it was stipulated that "oil will not be used as a direct weapon against Israel's Western protectors." This was seen as a setback for Arab states. As a result of this decision, they lost their only negotiating tool, oil. However, anti-Israel sentiment among Arab states was still seen at the summit as "Arab states have not engaged in any armistice or peace talks with Israel" (my translation). The 1967 war also brought about a change in Egyptian foreign policy, as the positive neutralism of the past became a dependence on the Kremlin. In his book The Broken Middle East, Georges Corm writes that this war was not only an Arab loss against Israel, since "Nasserist, populist, socialist and Arab nationalist Egypt lost against the conservative, pro-Western Saudi monarchy and pan-Islamic »..”.