Weapon of mass dissent.

Today, a new oil pipeline traveling from the land-locked Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean opened. It starts in Azerbaijan and ends in Turkey, passing through Georgia. It has been a 10-year project and has cost $4 billion US. Although British energy corporation BP is the lead shareholder at 30%, it should come as a surprise to no one that the US has been an ardent supporter of the line.

Why? Not just because America's excited about kicking up global temperature a couple Kelvin. Because, according to the Guardian, most Caspian oil exports have traditionally gone through Russian pipelines. So with this new pipeline, America has a new oil tap--one that is neither Middle Eastern nor Russian.

It's a sizable tap indeed. When the pipeline's working at full capacity (which it won't be until the end of the year--the pipe's too big), it will be delivering 1 million barrels of crude a day. That amounts to 1% of global oil production, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

How does this fit into American foreign policy? Well, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says that "The BTC pipeline will reinforce the sovereignty and prosperity of Azerbaijan and Georgia. BTC will further integrate Azerbaijan and Georgia into the international free market economy and promote their development, while advancing our shared goal of developing multiple oil and gas export routes."

Don't forget, Mr. Boucher, that the US has passing few friends in the Middle East. Beyond a few filthy rich oil moguls and a smattering of CIA-lovers like Ayad Allawi, the Middle East contains attitudes ranging from irate militancy at worst and (I suspect) mumbling resignation at best. Nor is Russia as close as Bush would like it to be after his sophomoric recent visit to eastern Europe. According to CNN's story, Russia has long opposed the pipeline.

Boucher implied as much when he described the pipeline opening as "a major success for the US goal of enhancing and diversifying global energy supplies." Of course the US wants to diversify (never, however, with sustainable or non-fossil fuel sources)--it needs to diversify among its friends.

Will Azerbaijan and the other poor nations located nearby benefit? I certainly hope so. Some sobering stats:

• In Azerbaijan, the infant mortality rate is about 82 for every 1000 live births. (Abortion by poverty, one might call it.) Compare this number with 5/1000 in Netherlands and 6.3/1000 in Cuba (CIA World Factbook)
• 49% of the roughly 8 million people were under the poverty line in 2002.
• Per capita income (per person) is less than $1000 a year, although it has been rising since 1999. (The poverty line in the United States for1 person is $9,570.)

Numbers like those suggest that "up" is the only direction to go.