Geopolitics of Energy Seminar Series

About

Today's policy and academic discussions about energy focus on the need to
reduce consumption and to shift to alternative, renewable fuel sources.
While such moves are critical components of a strategy to address both
global warming and energy security, a hard look at reality suggests that
the United States and other large consumer countries will remain dependent
on fossil fuels for years - even decades - to come. Access to such
resources is increasingly complicated, with political factors topping the
list of constraints.

The Obama Administration comes into office with a determination to change
American attitudes around energy and better connect U.S. foreign policy and
energy policy. This welcome effort needs to acknowledge the reality of
continued reliance on fossil fuels in the short and medium term - and
factor it into the broader formulation of American strategy. This
energy-inspired evolution of grand strategy is already underway in great
and middle powers around the world. Some countries are advanced in
infusing energy realities into their grand strategies; China's
"mercantilist" foreign policy is arguably foremost about securing energy
needs. Other countries, such those in Europe, are perhaps belatedly
dealing with the geopolitical ramifications of their energy arrangements.
Meanwhile, Gulf states are calculating how best to use resources now
perceived to be finite and planning transitions to other types of
economies.

This seminar series will host distinguished speakers and experts to discuss
the most pressing issues at the intersection of geopolitics and energy.
These guests will focus on how great and middle powers are shaping their
grand strategies in light of their assumptions about future energy needs.
What are the assumptions about energy held by various countries or regions?
How are such energy perceptions shaping the way in which big consumer
countries craft their political, economic, and military interaction with
the world? How are such assumptions driving the domestic growth strategies
of big producer countries - and their efforts to establish alliances and
relationships? The seminars will also examine the reverse: how
geopolitical realities are influencing energy strategies. To what extent
are geopolitics a driving factor in determining the pace and form of a
shift to alternative energy sources? How real is the political use of
energy?

Understanding how energy realities shape the grand strategies of China,
Russia, India, Europe, Saudi Arabia, and others is vital in mapping out the
contours of the future global order. These regionally focused seminars
will be the basis for identifying possible new nodes of international
conflict and cooperation and possible deficiencies in existing
international structures. The seminars will also draw attention to second
order, geopolitical problems that could arise as the United States and
others make energy more central in their plans, as well as highlight
geopolitical implications of possible shifts away from fossil fuels.