Long before Russia began to use oil as a political trump card, the US and other western allies were licking the massive profits of oil production and leaving a vulnerable world all the more vulnerable with the passing of time. It's almost too late to conclude that the ensuing passage of time will allow for a smooth transition to alternative fuels, and in all likelihood the fruits of our future global clashes will be the fruit of the lowest elements of capitalism and cartellism that runs up and down the corridors of world political powers. What a pathetically selfish world we live in!!