Episode 5: Energy Security. Who turned out all the lights?
When we trace the motives of major political players, energy is almost always a root motivator. A government interested in expanding a land-based trade route? Energy is probably why. Congressmen and women pushing to pass an infrastructure bill? Energy is probably a key component in the bill. Environmental groups campaigning to protect natural resources- no brainer. Restricting access to one energy source can drive up the value of another.
Most of the world’s current economic and social turmoil can be linked directly to the disruptions in global energy. Maintaining our modern industrial and consumer societies requires energy. Nations aspiring to join the industrialized world are equally dependent on cheap, reliable sources of energy – or otherwise risk backsliding into poverty and instability.
Energy directly impacts food and fertilizer production and the transportation of people, goods, and services. Increased energy costs are directly linked to the present world-wide inflationary cycle, and have been linked to social upheaval in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
The West has pinned their hopes on green energy, but the results haven’t been as consistent or voluminous as many had hoped. Other more traditional energy sources – like coal, nuclear, natural gas, and petroleum – have been considered increasingly unattractive due to environmental and economic reasons. Thus, oil remains a steadfast pillar of our global system, additionally desirable for its uses beyond energy. Look around, the plastics you see come from oil sources. It’s everywhere.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine laid-bare the fragility of the interconnected web of international energy. Sanctions against Russia removed nearly three million barrels of oil a day from the world’s markets. Meanwhile, a corresponding decline in production by several key petroleum-producing countries has seen many countries and blocs scrambling to find reliable sources of oil. On the other hand, since 2019, the United States has found itself a net energy exporter due to the shale oil revolution, which has had far-reaching effects on global geopolitics.
If you want to get to the bottom of the machinations of global politics and policy, the most likely culprit will continue to be energy for the foreseeable future.
