Caspian (Virtual) Energy Geopolitics
A simple sentence could summarize almost a decade of negotiations, both political and economic, over a field that has not brought a single drop of oil to the surface: “No oil, plenty of ink”. The case of Kurmangazy, an oil field which lies about half way between the Russian and the Kazakh coasts, helps us understand the multidisciplinarity and the importance of the role of energy in foreign policy decision-making.
Review – The Role of Energy in Russian Foreign Policy towards Kazakhstan
This in-depth study into the complex and multi-faceted aspect of the role of oil and gas in Russian foreign policy goes beyond the headlines, taking the reader through the hydrocarbon fields, and into the backroom of energy contract negotiations between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan since 1991. It is recommended reading for all regional or country-experts and interested readers alike.
Nuclear Meltdown
The accident in Japan may not prove to be as serious as that at Chernobyl in 1986, in that its direct radiological impacts will not be felt across such a wide area, but its political and economic effects could well be just as significant. The tragedy may shift priorities towards renewable energy. If so, the painful lesson that we can’t rely on nuclear technology may not have been in vain. After all, if technologically advanced Japan can’t handle nuclear power safely, who can?
Investment bubbles and climate politics
If you didn’t read Matt Taibbi’s piece “The Great American Bubble Machine” from Rolling Stone, then this is a good time to check it out. The article, which argues that the investment firm Goldman Sachs has been behind a series of disastrous speculative bubbles in recent years, has received a great deal of attention.
The international politics of peak oil and energy policy
The abrupt rises in oil prices in recent years coupled with worry about the long-term viability of a fossil-based economy have prompted some writers to foretell the coming of a ‘new dark age’ of Malthusian proportions. Very little appears to abate the current and soaring demand for oil, even as world oil production reaches it peak.
Water and Cooperation
Recent news in June 2008 that a Japanese firm has prototyped a car that runs on the reaction between metal hydride and water, did not cause joy in my heart. I was delighted to learn it was not really true. Like the rush to biofuels based on plants people eat, putting even small amounts of water into a car only bodes ill for the environment and human rights ahead. Meanwhile, climate change offers too much fresh water here, too little there, or too saline yet other there. Sorting out the public health/human rights of water from the ecological issues will be a stern challenge for politics at all levels of governance.
The Nuclear Question: what should we demand from Iran?
The question about what the international community should demand from Tehran may seem inappropriate in light of last autumn’s NIE. ‘Why should we demand anything at all?’ one may ask. Perhaps from now on suspicions should be erased and Iran should enjoy its “inalienable rights” to conduct unlimited enrichment on its soil. This is simply not the case.
The International Politics of Peak Oil
During the past decade a growing chorus of energy analysts has warned of the approach of “Peak Oil,” the time when the global rate of extraction of petroleum will reach a maximum and begin its inevitable decline. While there is some dispute as to when it will occur, there is none as to whether. The global peak is merely the cumulative result of production peaks in individual oilfields and in whole oil-producing nations.
The Politics of Renewable Energy: Unintended Consequences of Biofuel Policies
Government policies often generate unintended consequences. This has turned out to be the case with the aggressive biofuel policies pursued over recent years by the European Union and the United States.
Russian Energy Politics: Fuelling Power
The phrase “Russian energy politics” is dangerously close to a redundancy; in Russia, politics is energy and energy is politics. To be sure, energy is politicized in virtually every country, but nowhere is the nexus between petroleum and politics tighter than in the Russian Federation.
