WE do not need to wonder any longer what it must be like to live through a world war. A statement like this may have seemed hyperbole mere weeks ago but it no longer does. Before our eyes we see bombs, burning buildings and scurrying citizens. Ships are being sunk, swarms of drones being deployed, and barrages of ballistic missiles being launched. The bombing of an oil refinery near Tehran covered the city in slick black oil. The scene seems almost metaphorical — how oil has cursed those who ...