How Security Relates to Energy and Marine Transportation - Thesis Proposal Example

Rationale for Study Oil and energy sources are considered as probably the most important resources world requires in order managing its economy. Oilbeing the central force in running and fueling the economy therefore is one of the key strategic variables for the nations to maintain and manage. Access to cheap and secure energy therefore has become necessary for the nations to have in order fuel their economies. The linkages between the energy security and the nations are critical because energy requirements, if not met, can create significant security related issues. The quest for the secure oil therefore can make or break the nation as most of larger nations in the past have either thrived or were doomed due to shocks to their economy generating from oil and oil related products. In order to dominate the world economy and become self-sufficient, it is therefore critically important that security of the routes, marine transport as well as security as a whole is ensured. This thesis prospectus will detail about assessing security and how it relates to the energy and the marine transport. More specifically, this proposal aim to explore following: 1. Energy and its importance for the overall economy of a nation. 2. Why security is important for energy and marine transport? 3. How security can be ensured for energy and marine transport? 4. How security of energy and marine transport is linked with the economic progress of a nation. This proposal will therefore focus on the exploration of above issues and how they are interlinked with each other. Literature Review The term energy security is often used and linked with national security and the availability of natural resources for energy and consumption use. Despite the fact that modern economies rely on energy as the main source for running manufacturing facilities, uneven distribution of energy resources make many countries more vulnerable to the insufficient supply of energy. It therefore makes energy as one of the leading components of the national security for the nations as the virtual survival of the Nations depends upon the availability of cheap energy resources. It has been argued that the future short term as well as long term demand for the oil and other energy resources will be directly attached with the GDP of a nation. (McKinsey ). GDP will be the best indicator for the future demand of oil therefore countries with higher levels of GPD will be requiring more oil and energy resources to meet their growth requirements. Major developed countries, though may be experiencing a slow economic growth but due to sheer size of their economy, it can easily be assessed that their future needs for the energy will be higher. The overall importance of oil in the security has been mainly highlighted during First World War1 when Britain shifted its warships on the oil from coal. This was one of the beginnings of the use of oil for the purpose of fighting war. It is however, also important to note that this shift also meant that rather than relying on the secure supplies of coal, British Navy has to rely on unsecured and unreliable sources of oils which were not available to Britain domestically. This shift in the reliance on an energy source which was completely uncertain actually increased the strategic importance of oil in the national security. Daniel Yergin (2011) however, has now suggested that the oil has been dominating factor in the post-cold war era also. By discussing historical facts as to how Russia and other nations thrived on the oil boom Yergin(2011) claims that oil remains one of the most important and critical elements in the overall national security of a country. (Yergin) The recent focus on the energy security has been mostly due to the recent economic situation as well as the war-like situation in the areas where major suppliers of oil exist. Oil prices are considered as fluctuating in nature and long swings can actually make oil trading and purchasing a risky business. Apart from this, it also increases the dependence of countries on the continuous supply of energy resources in order to not only maintain the economy but also to ensure that the security preparations remain adequate. It is also critical to understand that uncertainty related with the oil is not the only issue of consideration. Frequent power breakdowns, electricity shortages as well as lack of infrastructure can also create uncertainty also and increase the reliance of countries on energy. Across countries, various sectors of the economy including military relies heavily on different sources of energy including oil which forms the major chunk of energy use. Dependence on oil and its supply concentration in few regions make it more vulnerable to security breaches and other issues which can effectively put the entire supply chain of oil and other energy resources at risk. It therefore forms a major part of national security for any nation. (Farrell and Remes) Over the period of time and as the terrorist tendencies have increased, there has been renewed fears for the marine transport and security. Explicit threats from Al-Qaeda and other threats potentially indicate that the marine transportation may not be a completely secure channel to ensure deliveries of oil to the developed world. Iran’s explicit threats to actually block Strait of Humouz has created larger security threats for the energy sources and the maritime transport because blocking this channel would cut substantial amount of energy resources available to Western countries. To make maritime system more open and secure so that it can help spur economic growth at wider level, it is critical that its security must be increased. Since energy resources and most notably oil travels through maritime sources of transport therefore national security is also linked with the way a nation secures its maritime transport channels. Security risks such as attacks by the terrorists can actually collapse the whole ports and the system and it may take government’s time to put in place adequate response to actually deal with this situation. In such a scenario, it becomes critically important that governments should take all the measures necessary to implement to ensure the security of maritime transport channels. Since maritime sector has a very diversified labor base therefore its security is of critical importance due to reliance of the sector on the large and diversified base of employees. Works Cited Farrell, Diana and Jaana K Remes. How the world should invest in energy efficiency. July 2008. 17 September 2012 . McKinsey . Exploring global energy demand. June 2009. 17 September 2012 . Yergin, Daniel. THE QUEST, Security, and the remaking of the Modern World. New York: Penguin Press, 2011. Methods to be used In order to effectively perform this study and explore the topic, a qualitative secondary research approach will be undertaken. Qualitative research will involve a systematic study of the available literature and empirical studies which have already covered this topic. A systematic review of the existing literature will be performed to indicate and explore as to how the role of energy and oil has changed over the period of time. Specific emphasis will be placed on understanding the link between the security and energy and how both of them are connected with the maritime transport. This study will rely mostly on the secondary sources included peer reviewed journals, books, online databases as well as industry magazines and publications. A systematic review of these resources will be performed to ascertain the link between the two and to establish that national security may be linked with the sources of energy. The overall range of literature review performed therefore will be broadened to not only include the peer reviewed journal articles but the industrial and professional reports also outlining the current state of maritime transportation and the current measures taken at global level regarding ensuring the security of maritime transportation. Read More