40
decades. The new energy landscape will pose political as well as technical challenges to governance. The US owes the boom in shale gas and oil production to a
new dynamic in terms of producer–consumers, having achieved the title of both the
world’s largest consumer and biggest producer of oil. Until present, the US has
played a central role in the globalization of energy technology. Yet, America has a
similar opportunity as a central actor in energy innovation, increasing the design
and distribution of unconventional oil and gas production; with the same being true
of green energy technologies (Steven et al. 2014:328–332).
A number of academic works on the US’ role in the Caspian and Central Asia
have been published by research groups in the US. A number of these groups carry
recommendations for US policy decision-makers, encouraging them to play a more
active role in the region. In Task Force 2012, by “Henry Jackson’s School of
International Studies at the University of Washington,” research group members
reasoned that the energy-rich Caspian Basin and Central Asia have the potential to
receive US influence in the region, and prevent supplier states from embracing
agreeable economic conditions with a different set of consumer states from attaining an adequate level of recognized energy security. According to the recommendations of the Task Force group, the US must preserve and develop relations with
regional states, support any program related to sociopolitical stability in the region,
fulfill a global strategy with allies and world powers in support of its policies, promote energy resource sustainability, and invest in developing energy resources
(Task Force 2012:198).
The Bush Administration paid an increased amount of attention to energy security and energy policy from the very first months in office when the Vice President
chaired a high-level government task force on energy policy. Several months prior
to this, the Council on Foreign Relations, with the cooperation of “The James
A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy of Rice University,” released its independent
“Task Force report: Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century.” The
Strategic Energy Policy report analyzed all the Bush administration’s energy policies, from its decision to abandon the Kyoto Protocol, to its eagerness to foster oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It also advised several steps that the
administration and following administrations could take to forge a sustainable
energy policy (www.cfr.org 2017). The report states that given both the Caspian
Basin countries and Russia hold about 27% of the world’s undiscovered oil
resources, these regions will no doubt represent future suppliers of hydrocarbons.
However, the current logistical, bureaucratic, and political problems surrounding
the extraction and delivery of these resources represent a barrier to their timely
development and future exploration. The biggest mistake for the United States, it
seems, has been to continue to rely on supplying oil from the Middle East and
Russia in lieu of a more extensive energy strategy. US energy policy must also focus
on energy efficiency. The 1970s brought about greater energy security and energy
price competition thanks to a diversification of energy resources (Task Force Report
2001:23, 24)
2 Literature Review
decades. The new energy landscape will pose political as well as technical challenges to governance. The US owes the boom in shale gas and oil production to a
new dynamic in terms of producer–consumers, having achieved the title of both the
world’s largest consumer and biggest producer of oil. Until present, the US has
played a central role in the globalization of energy technology. Yet, America has a
similar opportunity as a central actor in energy innovation, increasing the design
and distribution of unconventional oil and gas production; with the same being true
of green energy technologies (Steven et al. 2014:328–332).
A number of academic works on the US’ role in the Caspian and Central Asia
have been published by research groups in the US. A number of these groups carry
recommendations for US policy decision-makers, encouraging them to play a more
active role in the region. In Task Force 2012, by “Henry Jackson’s School of
International Studies at the University of Washington,” research group members
reasoned that the energy-rich Caspian Basin and Central Asia have the potential to
receive US influence in the region, and prevent supplier states from embracing
agreeable economic conditions with a different set of consumer states from attaining an adequate level of recognized energy security. According to the recommendations of the Task Force group, the US must preserve and develop relations with
regional states, support any program related to sociopolitical stability in the region,
fulfill a global strategy with allies and world powers in support of its policies, promote energy resource sustainability, and invest in developing energy resources
(Task Force 2012:198).
The Bush Administration paid an increased amount of attention to energy security and energy policy from the very first months in office when the Vice President
chaired a high-level government task force on energy policy. Several months prior
to this, the Council on Foreign Relations, with the cooperation of “The James
A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy of Rice University,” released its independent
“Task Force report: Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century.” The
Strategic Energy Policy report analyzed all the Bush administration’s energy policies, from its decision to abandon the Kyoto Protocol, to its eagerness to foster oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It also advised several steps that the
administration and following administrations could take to forge a sustainable
energy policy (www.cfr.org 2017). The report states that given both the Caspian
Basin countries and Russia hold about 27% of the world’s undiscovered oil
resources, these regions will no doubt represent future suppliers of hydrocarbons.
However, the current logistical, bureaucratic, and political problems surrounding
the extraction and delivery of these resources represent a barrier to their timely
development and future exploration. The biggest mistake for the United States, it
seems, has been to continue to rely on supplying oil from the Middle East and
Russia in lieu of a more extensive energy strategy. US energy policy must also focus
on energy efficiency. The 1970s brought about greater energy security and energy
price competition thanks to a diversification of energy resources (Task Force Report
2001:23, 24)
2 Literature Review