Strategic Analysis

Review Essay

Katherine T. Harris (ed.), Geopolitics of Oil , Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, 2009, pp. 165, US$69, ISBN 978-1606928103

Peter Maass, Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil , Allen Lane, London, pp. 228, £20, ISBN 978-1846142468

Climate Change: Process and Politics

With the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012, time seems to be running out for a new successor agreement. The Protocol remains the most comprehensive attempt to negotiate binding limits on anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The long-term challenge, defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is to stabilise GHG concentration in the atmosphere at levels that would prevent interference with the climate system. There are, however, economic and social realities that drive anthropogenic GHG emissions.

Oil in China: Reserves, Production and Export Potential

The latest addition to the Chinese ‘enigma’ is its oil potential. There have been various accounts, of late, in influential journals and important documents attempting to unravel the mystery surrounding Chinese oil. As it happens, most of them have helped only to further deepen it.

The Quest for Nuclear Energy in West Asia: Energy Security or Strategic Necessity

Most of the countries in West Asia have expressed an interest in developing nuclear energy. For them their growing demand of electricity owing to the increasing population, growing industries, their eternal reliance on the desalinated water and environmental protection are the major drivers of their decision to produce nuclear energy. Importantly, they would like to use nuclear energy for domestic consumption and supply oil and gas to earn more revenues.

European Energy Security: Facing a Future of Increasing Dependency by Peter Truscott

Geopolitics of Energy in West Asia: Competing Foreign Interests and Prospects for Regional Realignment

The article analyses international politics surrounding the Iranian nuclear crisis, and its implications for stakeholders such as the United States and its western allies as well as for emerging market countries including India, China, and Turkey which are especially interested in Iran's energy resources. Given the existence of multiplicity of interests of these countries, often conflicting, the article analyses three possible scenarios of how the Iranian nuclear crisis is likely to be addressed.

Atul Aneja |
November 2010 |
Strategic Analysis

The Economics and Politics of Climate Change by Dieter Helm and Cameron Hepburn (Eds.)

P. K. Gautam |
November 2010 |
Strategic Analysis

India–Australia Energy Cooperation: The Road Ahead

Energy ties between India and Australia are centuries old and can be traced back to the days of East India Company of the British–Indian era. From the first commercial export in the form of a shipment of coal to India from Australia in 1797, energy cooperation has come a long way. For instance, apart from making unswerving attempts to get Australian yellowcake, attempts have been made by India to ensure greater supply of coal and natural gas.

Rahul Mishra |
November 2010 |
Strategic Analysis

New Energy Frontier: The Bay of Bengal Region by Sudhir T. Devare (ed.)

Saurabh |
November 2010 |
Strategic Analysis

Is the Future of Energy Geopolitics in Space?

Let's face the facts: we are not going to regulate our way out of either climate change, or a peaking of fossil fuels. Even if we could imagine that individuals and nations were capable of accepting significant reductions in their lifestyle for long-term self-interest or the interests of their grandchildren, no amount of increased efficiency of those already using energy is going to make up for the Other Three Billion (O3B) citizens of the world moving to developed lifestyles and their accompanying energy demand.