The Iran War’s Energy Crisis Is Ripping Apart The Postwar World Order

The Iran war’s energy crisis isn’t just about rising gas prices — it’s undoing the very international order that shaped global power after World War II. According to Foreign Policy, the Western-led economic and political alliance forged in the aftermath of three major postwar oil shocks is now fraying apart, with the current crisis marking a decisive blow to US influence and its partnership with Western Europe.

The story we’ve been told about the postwar order focuses on Bretton Woods, the IMF, the Marshall Plan, and European integration as the pillars of stability. But the real glue holding this system together was oil — specifically, the three energy shocks of 1956, 1973, and 1978-79. Each shock was a direct challenge from postcolonial states demanding control over their resources and pushing back against Western economic dominance.

The 1956 Suez Crisis was a humiliating defeat for Britain and France, signaling the decline of colonial empires and the rise of resource sovereignty movements across Africa and the Caribbean. European integration, often framed as a peace project, was also a strategic response to these challenges, creating trade networks that maintained Western economic control while limiting the power of newly independent states.

The 1973 oil embargo by OPEC and OAPEC, triggered by Western support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, sent shockwaves through Western economies dependent on cheap oil. This “oil revolution” was a bold assertion of economic power by Middle Eastern and Latin American nations seeking to rewrite the rules of global trade and sovereignty.

Fast forward to today, and the conflict with Iran is the latest chapter in this ongoing struggle over energy and influence. The resulting crisis is not only driving up prices but also tearing apart the transatlantic alliance that has underpinned US global dominance for decades. The fracture threatens to reshape the geopolitical landscape in ways that could accelerate authoritarianism and economic instability worldwide.

This crisis underscores a critical truth: energy conflicts have always been about more than resources — they are about power, control, and the ability to dictate the rules of the global system. As the US and its allies grapple with the fallout from the Iran war, the unraveling of the postwar order demands urgent attention from anyone concerned about democracy, accountability, and the future of global governance.