The history of the extraction and use of oil is deeply imbedded in modern warfare. The development, manufacturing and propulsion of most of the sophisticated weaponry in use today may be largely attributed to oil, and almost exclusively to fossil fuels. Missiles, tanks, warplanes and warships are nearly entirely powered by petroleum. Without fossil fuels, the manufacturing and distribution of the amount of weaponry in world today would be impossible.

In addition, oil has often been the cause or objective of war. Because, ultimately, war is about energy. One country seeks to take from another, or to conquer another, in order to gain greater power: which is energy. In ancient history, war may often have been about land or riches, but it is the energy that those lands and riches, and the men subdued, could provide that was truly the objective. And it no less true today.
Our food is human energy and food production today is largely based on fossil fuels. The construction of our houses and buildings and the manufacturing of our machinery, technology, clothing – virtually all of our goods – and our transportation, are based on fossil fuels. Wealth is used to buy things that fossil fuels, and primarily oil, provide us. We in the west could not build the cities and communities, manufacture the plethora of goods we use and consume without fossil fuels.