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91. Top Ten Global Economic Challenges - An Assessment of Global Risks and Priorities

Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The beginning of 2007 offers a conflicting picture of the global economy for those trying to discern trends, challenges and opportunities. Concerns about energy security and climate sustainability are converging — finally bringing consensus in sight on the need for action in the United States. But prospects for breaking the global stalemate are still years away. Though some developing countries are succeeding in bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty, too many are still mired in a doom spiral of conflict, poverty and disease— despite the entry of new philanthropists, advocates and global corporations into the field of development. China's projected 9.6 percent growth rate is sending ripples to the farthest reaches of the planet—creating opportunities but also significant risks. The United States remains in the “goldilocks” zone, but this is premised on continued borrowing from abroad at historically unprecedented rates while many Americans fret about widening inequality and narrowing opportunity. While the United States concentrates on civil war in the Middle East, most leaders in the region are preoccupied with putting an outsized cohort of young people to work and on the road to becoming productive citizens.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Middle East

92. U.S.-China Energy Security Cooperation Dialogue Report

Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The Atlantic Council of the United States and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations organized the first "U.S.-China Energy Security Cooperation Dialogue," held in Beijing on 31 October-1 November 2006. Conference participants included foreign policy analysts and energy experts from the U.S. and Chinese governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and universities in both the United States and China. The agenda covered a broad spectrum of energy and energy-related geopolitical issues, including long-range forecasts for energy supply and demand, energy sources ranging from oil and gas to coal, nuclear and renewables.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, China, Beijing, and Asia

93. Energy Sovereignty and Security

Author:
Greg Austin and Danila Bochkarev
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Energy security has re-surfaced as a headline issue in the policy councils of Europe and the Americas in a way not seen since the 1970s. On the one hand, some leaders believe that there is a new energy rivalry with ominous geopolitical overtones, and they look at Russia and China with suspicion in this regard. On the other hand, at a more commercial level, there has been rising uncertainty about oil supply and demand, because of political instability in the Persian Gulf and rampant consumption in the major industrial countries and emerging economies. Price volatility, long a feature of the oil market, reached levels not seen for some years, leading to fresh concerns about 'peak oil'.
Topic:
Development, Energy Policy, Globalization, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Russia, China, America, and Europe

94. China’s Energy Governance: Perception and Reality

Author:
Edward A. Cunningham
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
As observers outside of China warn of a looming Chinese endgame in global energy assets, manipuated by Beijing, leading policymakers inside of China are facing considerable challenges governing major energy companies—especially those that the state owns. Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent tour of African states and rumors of the first Chinese takeover of an overseas listed com- pany have attracted critical attention and spurred much discussion. Most analysis of China’s energy governance has placed the central government in the driver’s seat. The reality is that this perspective is grossly misleading.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Imperialism, International Trade and Finance, and Hegemony
Political Geography:
China and Asia

95. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: China

Author:
Erica Downs
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
China's blistering economic growth has made access to adequate energy supplies an increasingly important priority. It is the world's second largest consumer and third largest producer of primary energy. From 2000 to 2005, China's energy consumption rose by 60 percent, accounting for almost half of the growth in world energy consumption. The country is able to meet more than 90 percent of its energy needs with domestic supplies — largely because of abundant coal reserves and a coal-based economy. However, it imports almost half of the oil it consumes.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
China and Asia

96. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: Japan

Author:
Peter C. Evans
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
For decades, Japan dominated Asia's energy picture. At the time of the first oil shock in 1973, it held a 60 percent share of Asia's oil demand. During the 1980s, Japan looked to China for oil and coal as part of its energy import diversification strategy. Today, Japan remains an important energy market but its position in Asia's energy supply and demand balance is rapidly changing. In the wake of surging regional demand, Japan's share of oil consumption is likely to fall below 15 percent of total Asian consumption by 2020. Demand for its major fuel needs — including oil, gas, coal, and uranium — is expected to remain relatively flat or increase only marginally. Meanwhile, the rest of Asia's requirement for these fuels is projected to grow dramatically, leaving Japan to confront a future in which it will be a smaller energy player facing a more crowded field of competitors for these energy supplies.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Japan, China, and Asia

97. Untangling China's Quest for Oil through State-backed Financial Deals

Author:
Erica Downs and Peter C. Evans
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The efforts of China's national oil companies to secure upstream oil assets abroad have attracted attention from U.S. officials and policymakers. Congress has taken notice, as indicated by the request of the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee Richard W. Pombo—triggered by the bid made by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. for Unocal in 2005—for a study by the Department of Energy of the economic and national security implications of China's energy demand. The report, released in February 2006, concludes that the foreign investments of China's national oil companies do not pose an economic challenge to the U.S. However, one issue the report mentions only in passing that merits further attention is how the Chinese government's financial support for some of these investments can undermine an open and competitive world oil market.
Topic:
Security, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Asia

98. The New Energy Security: 2005 Global Oil and Gas Forum

Author:
John A. Riggs
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Energy security means different things to different countries. Importing countries primarily focus on supply. Since the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the focus of energy security has been on achieving adequate supplies at reasonable prices, without incurring serious disruptions. Recent high prices have intensified this concern and renewed interest in policies to bring prices down.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia, and Saudi Arabia

99. Prospects for energy cooperation in North-East Asia

Author:
Ernest Wyciszkiewicz
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The cooperation between the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and Japan in the field of energy is one of the major factors defining the foreign policies of these countries and determining the strategic environment in Northeast Asia. For several years now, each of the three countries has been considering means of ensuring long-term energy security (Japan and China), and the appropriate use of existing energy potential to modernise the state and improve its international standing (Russia).Although the energy cooperation between these countries is still of a limited scope, the dynamic development of the regional energy markets is to be expected, given the fast changing international setting. The nature of future relations between the three powers (whether cooperative or confrontational) in the field of energy will have an impact on both regional and global security, particularly if one considers the growing political and economic significance of the Asia-Pacific region. An analysis of the present state of this cooperation and of its future prospects entails a discussion of the existing international and domestic conditions determining the policies of the three main actors: Russia, China, and Japan.
Topic:
Security and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, Japan, China, Israel, Northeast Asia, and Asia-Pacific

100. China and Iran: Mismatched Partners

Author:
John Calabrese
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
China and Iran are important geopolitical actors as well as major players in the global energy market. In recent years, the Sino-Iranian relationship has broadened and deepened. Energy cooperation is the main axis around which this partnership revolves. As a result, China is a stakeholder in the outcome of the diplomatic crisis that has been brewing over the Iranian nuclear program. The relationship between China and Iran deserves careful scrutiny, not the least because their strategic motivations remain ambiguous and their dealings with each other lack transparency.
Topic:
Security and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
China and Iran