OPEC: The Failing Giant

The wave of books explaining OPEC's successes may soon be followed by another on OPEC-in-decline. Professor Ahrari of East Carolina University provides an excellent background along with tools for explaining what comes next. His interpretation of the OPEC economic alliance as one party in a bargaining process that depends heavily on the swing from buyer's to seller's markets and the attendant uncertainty is subtle and quite persuasive. The history goes up to about mid-1985, and there is a useful chronology.