To the Point

Politics of Petroleum: Persian Gulf, Central Asia

Osama bin Laden may despise America's lifestyle and foreign policy, but his primary goal is toppling the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, a regime the US has sworn to protect. Because it controls a quarter of the known reserves of petroleum, a fundamentalist takeover of Saudi Arabia could disrupt the economy of the entire world. We look beyond terrorism, religion and cultural competition, to America's dependence on Middle East oil and energy efficiency at home, with experts on Russia and the Middle East, petroleum, politics, business and the environment. Newsmaker: Generic Version of Cipro Approved in Canada - The anthrax scare has focused attention on the supply of antibiotics to treat those infected. Cipro, manufactured by Bayer, is the only such drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration. While the US called for an increase in production, Canada has gone one step further, as reported by Amy Harmon, of the The New York Times. Reporter's Notebook: : Mundane Behavior in Uncertain Times - Buying gas masks and stocking up on antibiotics are symptoms of the fear that has gripped Americans since September 11. Another change is the disruption of the ordinary common rituals of daily life. Scott Schaffer, co-editor of the Journal of Mundane Behavior, observes that people have begun acting like tourists in a strange land."