The new geopolitics of energy: conflict or cooperation?

Elizabeth Buchanan
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

“In the emerging international power system, we can expect the struggle over energy to override all other considerations” - Michael Klare[1]

 

Against the backdrop of depleting global energy reserves, a new geopolitical landscape is emerging, characterised by Petrostates utilising their natural resources as political commodities. This essay explores two avenues of countering the challenges posed by the new geopolitics of energy.  Will governments seek cooperation via collective energy security strategies? Or will the energy-poor nations instead opt to meet energy-rich Petrostates on the battlefield? To assess whether the new geopolitics of energy will result in conflict or cooperation, this essay examines Russia’s emerging energy superpower strategy, and provides a case study of the 2006 Russian-Ukrainian gas crisis.

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