Energy security has been
a topic debated since the last four decades ago. The reason was mainly because
of protectionist policy from OPEC member states. The world, particularly the
U.S., cannot freely determine the oil price anymore. The newly created organization
called OPEC collectively decide among its member states how much to produce to
keep the price as high profitable as possible.
The West did not happy with such
behavior like this and they tried to find other possible ways to keep the price
stable and as cheap as possible. However, the new century has come many
emerging countries are hunger for energy the same thing like the West. From
this time on, they are competing for energy, especially gas and oil, for their
fast growing industry. This competition is not always peaceful but rather very
violent. Each major industrial state has tried to bring resource-rich countries
under their own influence by supporting both civilian and military assistance.
However, increasing this friendship and cooperation rather makes those oil-rich
states corrupt, abusive, aggressive and violent. Nigeria is a striking example
to prove this case. Assistance either from the West or Chinese government
rather pushes these countries into deep crisis, abusive among citizen and rebel
groups.
Violent conflicts between
proponents and opponents of government arose ever since. The international
community can’t do anything to help improve the situation in those oil-rich
countries but they rather intervene to increase division local groups. After
all there are endless wars and conflicts between different groups, races,
faith, identify and status etc. This has created further insecurity and
instability in those energy producers’ countries, especially in the Middle East
and North Africa region. From this complicated problem, energy issues was
politicized or militarized and became a major concern of every state especially
major powers in the world.
After all oil-price
inflation, insufficient oil supply, fast demand of energy from major industrial
states, instability and risks that usually interrupt the smooth flow of global
oil from country to country have constituted a wider concern among states. From
now on, many questions pose to thinkers, academic scholars and states on
whether how to manage and transport it safely and peacefully? How to sustain it
or should there alternative ways to oil?
Various answers are
provided for these issues by different theorists. From realist point of view,
it is a matter of power and hegemony. States may do whatever to achieve this
end. And that energy is one source of in increasing greater state’s power.
That’s why states are fighting for it even requiring to use war in some extent.
It’s true as argued in the text, mostly states possessing veto power in the
UNSC are competing with one another for energy resources. They often block one
another when those initiatives or policies involving oil-rich countries such as
Syria’s civil war or Iran’s nuclear crisis. Some state even uses energy as
weapon to bargain for better price or solution. Russia, for example, has used
repeatedly this tactic towards the European Union in order show its superior
power in the region and to threaten its former Soviet states from staying out
of its influence. China, another example, has drawn 9 dash map in the South
China Sea to grasp all of those areas so that it could extract those national
resources which will help its growing industry move forwards steadily. But this
outlaw behavior created contentious conflicts among countries in the region.
However, realists would say energy issue is one of the states’ survival and
that states will deadly fight for it. From this very reason, one can say energy
security deserves an agenda in high politics.
On the other hand, some
would say energy issue is part of political economy. Energy is a powerful tool
for enhancing political power of a state. Abusing it will destroy one’s own
economy; managing it well will bring prosperity to that state. Confronting with
the shortage of energy, states and thinkers are in big trouble to find an
alternative, sufficient energy supply. But, of course, in this contemporary
world no other energy source is more efficient than oil. Consequently, states
are competing for it regardless of hard means. This has constituted even more
essential study of energy security. Energy issue is more and more relevant to
healthy of a state and the world as a whole. No one can ignore it anymore.
