The Risks to National Security Posed by Increased Competition for Energy and Food Resources - Essay Example

National security entails a wide range of strategies that are meant to ensure the survival of a state in the future. These strategies range from diplomacy, political and economic leadership, and food security among others. National security is projected to be a vexing issue in the years to come for some countries, particularly the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) such as Qatar.

Despite having numerous deposits of oil and natural gas, Qatar and other countries in the GCC face a lot of challenges that are likely to threaten theory national security in the future(Bailey, 2013). In the next thirty years, for instance, the competition for energy resources in Qatar is likely to be challenging to the extent of threatening national security (UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, 2011). Current issues that Qatar faces are likely to sabotage the progress of the energy sector thereby affecting national security.

Among the issues Qatar faces include the inadequacy of energy production to meet the requirements of the population while consuming a lot of water resources are being used in the production process. A huge chunk of the countries food security is vested in international trade thus exposing the country to price risks. The political crisis in a few countries in the GCC and the Arab spring is also likely to affect competition for natural resources in Qatar thereby threatening national security for the next thirty years (Sharma, 2011).

Qatar can however avoid these challenges that are likely to threaten the future of the state by diversifying its production process and the whole economy to incorporate different forms of commodities (Bailey, 2013).