Critique of Energy Politics by Brenda Shaffer - Book Report/Review Example

Introduction Energy is one of the most important resources available to modern world to propel the civilization ahead. Due to its sheer importance for the progress of any country’s society and economy, it often becomes important for any government to actually secure consistent and cheap sources of energy. With the advent of the industrial age, the overall change in the society has been dominated by the producers and consumers of the energy. With energy having central role in human progress after the industrial revolution, the overall politics of developed countries and specially that of United States became increasing dominated by the energy and petroleum in particular. The Book “Energy Politics” by Brenda Shaffer is an extensive work of research tracing the industrial history of United States and how it increasingly being dominated by the energy and oil. Prof. Shaffer conclusively defines as to how almost every aspect of our life is now being dominated by energy and why country’s security and sustainability of its environment is dependent upon how decisions on energy are made. By providing detailed analysis of how energy affects the domestic as well as foreign policies, Shaffer highlights the critical role being played by energy as one of the most important tools for political discussions and debates. This book will present a review and critique of the book itself while at the same time will also explore as to what are some of the themes discussed in the book, how the message of the book actually interacts with the current policy on the energy and finally what is my overall opinion about the book and author’s opinion. Energy Politics- A Critical Review With the development of industrial era, it has become increasingly important for developed nations to actually have control over the sources of energy. Since oil and natural gas were and still are the main sources of energy therefore much of the effort is directed towards securing these sources of energy to actually propel human society ahead. Shaffer however, in her book, essentially suggests that this quest has become so important for the nations that the overall politics is now mostly being dominated by this. Oil is approximately equal to one-third of the total energy resources of the world and due to its various uses; ease of transportability as well low price makes oil one of the preferred energy sources in the world. The low cost of extraction as well as other related costs makes oil one of the preferred commodities for the world governments. Shaffer started the book with giving a very well thought out introduction regarding how the overall dynamics of the oil market are changing. She suggests that the overall share of non-OPEC members in oil business is on the rise and non-OPEC members are actually causing a fundamental shift into the market by selling it on the spot market. Due to changes in environmental policies and a renewed focus on sustainability, countries are actually forced to reduce using fossil fuels due to challenges faced because of climate change. Central Themes While discussing the overall linkages between the oil/energy and how it affects politics, author suggests that one of the key characteristics of the oil exporting and producing countries is that though governments in those countries are stable in nature however, they are undemocratic. Since oil producing and exporting countries are actually rentier states in nature therefore they do not require the kind of legitimacy required by other countries. This is due to the fact that oil revenues are produced by a relatively small minority which does not require much of the support from the majority therefore they do not require legitimacy. As such, it is clear that author views the oil producing states as States which do not require political legitimacy and hence are more inclined towards making foreign policy choices and decisions which are practically free from the domestic influence. Due to their lesser dependence on the people for taxation related issues, it becomes easier for them to actually implement political and foreign policies of their own likings. At the start of the book, author has also written about the various energy sources available and how developed countries are actually utilizing different sources of energy including that of the nuclear energy. Countries like US, UK, Germany and France depend heavily on the nuclear energy as one of the alternative sources of the energy and they are also the largest producers of nuclear energy in the world which ultimately also define their overall position in the world politics. As such, one of the initial themes of the book is that of how energy is being produced and which countries are having control over the major sources of energy. Developed countries like US and UK which are also democratic countries in the world rely mostly on the nuclear energy as their one of the sources of dominance on world politics and redefined the way they control the overall world politics. Shaffer argues that the overall regime types in the oil producing countries are defined the way they share their oil revenues. This argument however, may not be entirely plausible as there are countries which are outside OPEC and are developed while at the same time controlling significant portion of the oil revenues of the world. Shaffer mostly indicates the overall governance system within Arab and other Middle East countries which have been controlled by the families since the discovery of oil. While further discussing and exploring the link between the politics and the energy, Shaffer argues that those countries which are oil importing actually makes it a central part of their national security policy to actually secure the future energy sources. It is within this context that Shaffer has discussed the important issue of foreign policy and the politics of oil and energy. Importing States, if they are in dominating position at the world stage, also ensure that the energy markets in the energy exporting countries remain stable in order to avoid any external shocks to their own economies. What is critical to note however, is the argument that oil exporting countries, on the basis of profit windfalls due to energy price increases, attempt to increase their overall influence in the international politics. As such, author has attempted to actually link economics with that of politics and how the changing energy prices can actually result into an increase in the overall influence in the international politics. Author has also highlighted the importance of natural gas and how it can actually have a greater impact on the world politics than the oil. ` Another important theme discussed by the author is that of how important natural gas pipelining has become. Shaffer argues that since natural gas has become important due to the transportation and pipeline transport has become important. Due to the reduction in the prices of natural gas in international market, it has become cheaper for the countries to import gas. However, due to the fact that pipelines have to go through different countries with potential economic benefits, countries like Russia gained importance politically in European Region. Conflict between the States due to energy may not be eminent according to Shaffer however; countries which are landlocked and countries which are providing major routes for gas pipelines may be into conflicts due to other related political issues. Expenses incurred on the construction of pipelines, the time required as well as fluid nature of peace between these nations. Further, the growing conflict between the transporting and importing nations may further grow if economic benefits of such transportation links are greater to any one nation. Energy security is another theme discussed by the author by suggesting that nations actually secure their energy resources not only through the diversification of energy supplies but also through the flexible fuel supplies. What is also however, important to note that countries like US focus on securing energy supply reliability whereas other countries in European Union focus more on affordability and environment protection. Most of the energy supply takes place through established seas routes which are also falling in areas which are relatively hostile or unfavorable for US. The Strait of Hormuz is within the reach of Iran which due to its hostility towards US can pose a greater risk to the energy supply reliability to US and other developed countries. Shaffer therefore argues that due to the safety issues related with the supply of energy, it becomes increasingly complex and important for the countries to actually secure energy supply routes by asserting their influence and military strength. US has been on the forefront of this and has done a lot to secure its energy supply by engaging with the countries like Iraq and Iran. It is within this perspective that the energy infrastructure has become one of the targets of the terrorists to actually inflict harm and damage to the interests of the countries either exporting or importing the oil and other energy sources from countries located specially in the Middle East Region. Shaffer also argues as to how different countries such as Saudi Arabia, US, China and European Union are being influenced by the energy politics. US being the largest energy consumer in the world relies heavily on the coals and nuclear energy to produce electricity however, its dependence on oil has made it one of the most important players in the middle East. Its due to this dependence of US on the oil that it has been giving so much importance to Saudi Arabia and also guaranteeing the security in Middle East. Shaffer also discussed about the potential conflict between China and US on the energy sources and suggest that in order to fuel its economic growth; China has to rely on the energy sources. Though China has been dubbed as one of the less energy efficient countries however, given its importance in the international economy, it may play significant role in the international politics as for as the energy politics is concerned at the Regional as well as global level between super powers of the world. US Policy With increasing influence from China and its need for new energy sources to fuel its economic growth, there are widespread underlying changes which are sweeping through the overall focus of different countries in this regard. The overall energy policy in US is mostly a decentralized policy which is determined at the national, state and local level. Due to this, there has been an uncoordinated effort within the country to focus more extensively on securing the energy supply sources. US is the largest consumer of energy in the world and is the second largest coal producer and fulfills its electricity requirements either through the coal burning or the use of nuclear energy. It is also the largest producer of the nuclear energy in the world and has been using it for both the civil as well as military purposes. Apart from this, the use of renewable energy is on the rise too in the country thus reducing the overall dependence of US on historical sources of energy in the world. The existing US policy on the security of energy is based upon securing the supply, its distribution, conservation as well as its consumption. However, most of this is actually done at the local and state level leaving little room for the Federal Government to actually have an influence at the local level. It is also important to note that US is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol which is recognized globally as the standard for the environment protection however, US has not signed it while maintaining its stance that the CO2 emissions and control shall be governed by the market forces. Connecting the dots between the energy security and international politics, Shaffer argues that US has been influenced by Saudi Arabia. US policy in this regard has been based upon giving Saudi Arabia a lot of mileage in international politics as Saudi Arabia offers oil to US on discounted prices. In return to this favor, US has been instrumental into the security of the Middle East. The existing policy of US on the Middle East has largely been influenced by protecting the Saudi Interests as it has explicitly engaged with countries like Iraq and Iran to protect the interests of Saudi Arabia. Shaffer suggests that one of the main weapons for US is its strategic petroleum reserves which have been used by US as one of the key weapons. Though it was established in 1970s, the Strategic Petroleum Reserves are being used by US to control the energy supply at the global level and much of the US policy is influenced by the way US actually has used such energy resources. US policy has been driven by its ability to influence world energy markets as its largest consumer therefore it can have an impact on both the supply as well as the prices of oil and other energy resources in the world. The fuel efficiency standards are at their lowest in US as compared to the developed countries such as Japan. However, if US force to improve these standards in order to improve the oil efficiency, its overall oil consumption may decrease which again can put it at the disadvantageous position in the global oil markets. Due to this reason, US has actually been avoiding to change its existing laws in order to improve its efficiency and protect the environment. The existing laws on the sanctions of the countries and restricting the trade of companies to trade with these companies may also need to be changed in order to change the overall policy stance. The existing policy in US also lacks innovation especially in terms of the energy and alternative energy. Shaffer suggests that US need to make changes in its policies to make energy use more innovative in nature. The lack of clear incentives to the companies to develop alternative sources of energy is also cited as one of the policy lacking by Shaffer. US is being advised to developed innovative incentive mechanism for its companies to actually develop and improve the use of alternative energy sources as US has been self sufficient in other forms of energy such as Nuclear and coal energy. Previously, Congress has also allowed the corn-based ethanol which is considered as ecologically unwise. Congress however, is believed to have done this out of the farm-state political influence despite the fact that US has been consistently pushing for market based development of alternative energy sources at the global and the national level. Author therefore has been able to highlight some of the important policy measures to be required in order to make changes in the existing laws at the State as well as at the Federal level. What is critical is how the author has actually highlighted the weaknesses of the existing US policy and laws on tackling different energy related political issues and resolve them through the domestic as well as the international politics. Personal Analysis I believe this is an excellent book outlining how politics and energy are linked with each other and how the overall economic and political policies of nations are being influenced. What is important about this book is the way author has been able to connect the link between different concepts and has developed a comprehensive set of arguments which are well thought out and coherent in nature. I believe author however, has not been able to focus much of the attention on the alternative sources of energy which may be the next frontier of conflict between the nations. Apart from this, author has also missed to discuss water as a source of energy because electricity is being generated through hydal power also. Countries like India and Pakistan are locked in conflict with each other because of the control over the water resources and the way they are being managed. Control over the water resources not only can create conflict but also severe energy sources thus forcing countries to actually rely on other alternatives of the energy. Oil exporting countries, if they do not have access to sufficient water resources, may experience higher level of dependence on oil and gas as the major sources of energy to generate electricity. Poor countries therefore may experience more economic hardships if their dependence on the expensive energy sources increases. Author seems to have focus less on this area and remained focused on creating a link between the energy and politics of developed countries only. What is also good about the book is the fact that author has not shied away from challenging the existing and conventional wisdom and gave equal importance to natural gas with oil. Author implicitly suggests that there is a greater need to focus on the policy making for securing gas supplies and resources apart from securing the supplies for oil. These arguments of author are equally compelling and important because gas being the cheaper source can have potential to dominate the world politics more extensively. It is this focus on the renewed importance of the gas in international politics that the author has given substantial importance to securing gas resources besides ensuring that effective policy making is done in this regard. It is also however, critical to note that author has focused more attention on the gas as equivalent to the oil. It would have been much better, if the author has also focused more time on exploring as to how alternative energy sources might have any impact on the policy making efforts of the nation. Overall, this is a great effort to highlight and explore a different dimension of the politics and its links with the energy. Author has successfully argued for making wiser policy choices in order to reduce the conflict, improve peace prospects while at the same time finding new and improved ways of ensuring energy supply by the developed countries of the world and specially by United States of America to secure its future energy consumption. Read More