This paper discusses the OPEC organization in the 1970s, and its effects, which are examined through a neo-realist framework, and therefore show how the examination of utility-maximizing states both explains and provides meaning to the OPEC issue. OPEC's actions are presented as an example of a counter-
hegemonic movement, which, rather than undermining the hegemonic control of the West, was unsuccessful and resulted in OPEC's
incorporation into the global
economic system.