Aron argued the Algerian war cost ten times the oil’s value

Evidence

In a booklet, L’Algérie et la République, published in the summer of 1958, Raymond Aron, the distinguished writer and contributor to the conservative Le Figaro, pointed out that the annual cost of the war “is more or less equal to ten times the profits which would be derived from twenty million tons of crude petroleum,” and that “those who insist or suggest that Algerian autonomy would entail the loss of the petroleum for France are either ignorant or liars….” He predicted: “The best way for France to lose the Sahara oil is to want to keep it for herself.” — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 754

Categorization

• SEED: Aron’s cost-benefit logic against colonial war could anchor an essay on the economics of empire vs. its rationalizations.
• XREF: connects to: The Algerian war cost France ten times what the oil was worth; Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 753

Related

• The Algerian war cost France ten times what the oil was worth (similarity 0.93)
• Saharan oil discovery added an economic motive to France’s Algerian war (similarity 0.88)
• Saharan oil gave France a new economic motive to win the war (similarity 0.83)
• Algeria’s oil nationalization triggered French economic retaliation (similarity 0.82)
• Severing Algeria proved a net economic gain for France (similarity 0.81)
• France’s Sahara claims rested on cartographic fictions until oil made it valuable. (similarity 0.81)
• The Sahara dispute turned on oil wealth rather than geography or history. (similarity 0.81)
• The French economy’s prosperity rested on Saharan oil and gas (similarity 0.79)
• Saharan oil gave France a vastly increased economic motive for retaining Algeria (similarity 0.78)