On the plane this weekend I went through most of Kevin Phillips' Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism One of his central themes is the unique relationship between the Dollar and oil and the unusual effect each has on the other (US currency is said by some to be on an "oil standard" since 1974 when Nixon convinced the Saudis to demand oil sales be paid in dollars).
Phillips treats 20th Century US hegemony as the latest in a progress of industrial powers with "idiosyncratic links to specific energy sources". (The others he cites are the Dutch with wind and water, and the British with coal) And, of course, tying this analysis to Peak Oil theory, he makes the case that the US is an inevitably declining power.
It's one of those a-little-too-neat big ideas, but those are always the fun ones to toss around anyway.
Phillips discusses his book with Bill Moyers below (video is 1 of 3 but I'm sure you know how to use YouTube)
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