ARTICLE: Oil price shock means China is at risk of blowing up, By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph, 08/07/2008

This logic is the basis of my long-standing argument that a war on terror is a war of survival for the New Core in ways that it will never be for the Old Core. Raise oil prices enough, creating a big enough shock, and you beggar the more vulnerable New Core immediately, while the Old Core remains rich.

Of course, prices rise more now in response to heightened demand, but given the many investment choices, supply is destined to remain extremely tight for the foreseeable future, terrorists/instability have the potential to truly threaten a regime like China's.