The following Letter to the Editor was written by B'nai B'rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin and submitted to the Washington Post:
In his November 14 column (Geopolitics at $100 a Barrel), Robert J. Samuelson is right on target. His observation that energy "serves as a political weapon" is a chilling reminder that international issues are all interconnected. Each time we fill our gas tank or click up the thermostat, we increase our dependence on oil – and provide disproportionate power to a handful of increasingly unstable countries. At our recent B'nai B'rith International policy conference, the most serious topic on the minds of our Latin American members was Venezuela. They drove home the message that the entire world has much to fear from President Hugo Chavez, who, through his growing relationship with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has the very real potential to severely threaten our energy sources, and moreover, world peace.
The vagaries of the oil market have never been more apparent. How can we maintain a clear-headed geopolitical view when our nation has no true alternative to oil? Our dependence on foreign oil is our Achilles heel.
We need to change ingrained habits to curb our oil dependence. An unstable world demonstrates we no longer have a choice.
Daniel S. Mariaschin
Executive Vice President, B'nai B'rith International
Washington, D.C.
