Geopolitics

Using examples from Crimea, Sudan, the Arctic Ocean, the Persian Gulf, Venezuela, and China, Chapter 8 argues that energy is the most common root cause of political instability. The chapter focuses an intense light on the importance of energy to political decisions as it incorporates the geopolitics of energy into the prospective transition to a more sustainable energy future. It discusses the logic behind the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, both when oil is plentiful and when oil imports are necessary. The geopolitics of energy can lead to war, as it did in the Persian Gulf and as it might trigger in the South China Sea. Chapter 8 explains the role of energy as a motivation for war and continued military engagement. It also describes how concerns about securing sufficient oil supplies have diminished the influence of embargoes as a geopolitical tool.