Energy security in the post-Cold War era: Identifying future courses for crises
This paper addresses US energy security in the post-Cold War era for a conference on energy security jointly sponsored by the Department of Energy and the National Defense University. It examines the evolving nature of energy security based on analysis of past crisis-inducing events and-discusses potentially important geopolitical, environmental, regulatory, and economic developments during the next twenty-five years. The paper steps beyond the traditional economic focus of energy security issues to examine the interplay between fundamental economic and technical drivers on the one hand, and political, environmental, and perceptual phenomena, on the other hand, that can combine to create crises where none were expected. The paper expands on the premise that the recent demise of the Soviet Union and other changing world conditions have created a new set of energy dynamics, and that it is imperative that the United States revise its energy security perspective accordingly. It proceeds by reviewing key factors that comprise the concepts of ``energy security`` and ``energy crisis`` and how they may fit into the new world energy security equation. The study also presents a series of crisis scenarios that could develop during the next twenty-five years, paying particular attention to mechanisms and linked crisis causes and responses. It concludes with a discussion of factors that may serve to warn analysts and decision makers of impending future crises conditions. The crisis scenarios contained in this report should be viewed only as a representative sample of the types of situations that could occur. They serve to illustrate the variety of factors that can coalesce to produce a ``crisis.``
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 45642
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-25138; CONF-9411212-1; ON: DE95007817
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Energy and national security in the 21st century conference, Washington, DC (United States), 10 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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