Is the Arab world an indispensable energy source without which our civilisation will come to a halt? Is this the cause of political and military meddling in the Arab world's affairs, and the reason given by democratic western leaders to defend supporting autocratic and authoritarian Arab governments to stay in power? Is the world really this vulnerable? Assessment of mankind's dependence on fossil fuels, particularly the position of the Arab world, is performed by analysing the three types (oil, natural gas, and coal), which are in essence convertible. Fossil fuels are tackled from two angles: clarifying the terminology used by the media, politicians, scientists, and so-called experts, when discussing fossil fuels; evaluating the hard facts and separate them from fiction by analysing the numbers and scrutinise them impartially to come with a definitive quantitative answer. Finally, a further investigation examines fossil fuels in relation to alternative energy, and from political perspective.