The New, New Great Game
One year ago, Pepe Escobar, a keen observer of global energy politics, wrote this:
Forget the mainstream media’s obsession with al-Qaeda, Osama “dead or alive” bin Laden, the Taliban — neo, light or classic — or that “war on terror,” whatever name it goes by. These are diversions compared to the high-stakes, hardcore geopolitical game that follows what flows along the pipelines of the planet.
Specifically, Escobar was referring to what has become known as the The New Great Game, an international power struggle over oil and gas reserves in Eurasia.
But after reading Global Warring, Cleo Paskal’s excellent new book on geopolitics in the era of climate change, I’m convinced that someone should amend the Wikipedia entry so that in addition to Eurasia, Africa and the Arctic are included as geopolitical battlegrounds for control over the world’s energy resources.
I’ll have more to say about Paskal’s book in upcoming posts. Meanwhile, here’s my review of Global Warring in Nature’s Climate Feedback.
I think the arctic in particular will be well worth watching in the next few decades.
Cleo has indeed written an important book. Can see here talking about these issues on New Security Beat at http://www.youtube.com/user/ECSPWWC#p/u/40/g41t9h20IKg
Per the Arctic, Scott Borgerson has written a few recent pieces in Foreign Affairs, including this one from last March, in which he predicts:
“The next few years will be critical in determining whether the region’s long-term future will be one of international harmony and the rule of law, or a Hobbesian free-for-all.”