73
Existing trends indicate that the focus of diplomacy is not only on focusing on
political and military affairs but also on economic relations. Because, based on the
theory and practice of modern realism, energy is one of the major pillars of material
domination over the global economy; major global powers, including China, have
discovered that among the three pillars of consolidating hegemonic power, energy
is one of the key pillars; Hegemonic mechanisms enable them to take a huge share
of foreign trade in the global trading market. Based on this, the country is struggling
to use a realistic political behavior pattern to make optimal use of energy as a means
of exercising power, as well as the goal of power and wealth gain, in order to consolidate its domination (Sadeghi 2015:118).
For decades, fear of energy shortages has sparked American energy diplomacy.
The global economy’s dependence on oil and the need for the United States to supply daily quantities of this commodity led to complex interconnected networks and
intense diplomatic efforts. An increasingly competitive global environment for
resources has made them more immediate and more productive. Today, in an era of
high energy, many predict that the new power of US energy will abolish such efforts
and pave the way for the United States to be established in the world. However, a
careful look at reality shows that this should be far from the case. Although the
United States no longer needs to import foreign energy on a large scale, it still has
many prioritized energy diplomacy efforts left from the past. What is different is
that the United States will have more time to achieve these goals in a new, energetic
environment. However, the United States has not necessarily entered into an era of
easy energy diplomacy. It may eliminate the arbitrary momentum through energy
policymaking, rather than the convenience of turning the energy markets into big
benefits for the United States and its allies (www.belfercenter.org 2018).
Energy recovery will also gain US trade talks using new leverage as other countries compete for US LNG access. US is currently negotiating two major multilateral trade deals: The “Transatlantic trade and investment partnership” (with 28 EU
countries) and a “Trans-Pacific deal” (with 11 countries in Asia-Pacific and the
Americas). In contrast, applications for LNG terminals designed to send gas elsewhere should be done through a review process that determines whether this business is in the national interest of the United States or not. For many countries in Asia
and Europe who want to import natural gas from the US to add to their energy to the
mix, achieving this business situation has a higher added value (Blackwill and
O’Sulliva 2014:111,112).
China’s “Outgoing” Policy
In 1990, Chinese National Oil Companies (NOCs) embarked on a “Going Out”
strategy. The immediate economic and political crisis the country found itself in was
thus ceased as an opportunity to forge collective energy policy goals with foreign
political allies. The bond with these allies was strengthened via Chinese investment
capital and the guarantee of accessing the vast consumer market which this entailed.
China
Existing trends indicate that the focus of diplomacy is not only on focusing on
political and military affairs but also on economic relations. Because, based on the
theory and practice of modern realism, energy is one of the major pillars of material
domination over the global economy; major global powers, including China, have
discovered that among the three pillars of consolidating hegemonic power, energy
is one of the key pillars; Hegemonic mechanisms enable them to take a huge share
of foreign trade in the global trading market. Based on this, the country is struggling
to use a realistic political behavior pattern to make optimal use of energy as a means
of exercising power, as well as the goal of power and wealth gain, in order to consolidate its domination (Sadeghi 2015:118).
For decades, fear of energy shortages has sparked American energy diplomacy.
The global economy’s dependence on oil and the need for the United States to supply daily quantities of this commodity led to complex interconnected networks and
intense diplomatic efforts. An increasingly competitive global environment for
resources has made them more immediate and more productive. Today, in an era of
high energy, many predict that the new power of US energy will abolish such efforts
and pave the way for the United States to be established in the world. However, a
careful look at reality shows that this should be far from the case. Although the
United States no longer needs to import foreign energy on a large scale, it still has
many prioritized energy diplomacy efforts left from the past. What is different is
that the United States will have more time to achieve these goals in a new, energetic
environment. However, the United States has not necessarily entered into an era of
easy energy diplomacy. It may eliminate the arbitrary momentum through energy
policymaking, rather than the convenience of turning the energy markets into big
benefits for the United States and its allies (www.belfercenter.org 2018).
Energy recovery will also gain US trade talks using new leverage as other countries compete for US LNG access. US is currently negotiating two major multilateral trade deals: The “Transatlantic trade and investment partnership” (with 28 EU
countries) and a “Trans-Pacific deal” (with 11 countries in Asia-Pacific and the
Americas). In contrast, applications for LNG terminals designed to send gas elsewhere should be done through a review process that determines whether this business is in the national interest of the United States or not. For many countries in Asia
and Europe who want to import natural gas from the US to add to their energy to the
mix, achieving this business situation has a higher added value (Blackwill and
O’Sulliva 2014:111,112).
China’s “Outgoing” Policy
In 1990, Chinese National Oil Companies (NOCs) embarked on a “Going Out”
strategy. The immediate economic and political crisis the country found itself in was
thus ceased as an opportunity to forge collective energy policy goals with foreign
political allies. The bond with these allies was strengthened via Chinese investment
capital and the guarantee of accessing the vast consumer market which this entailed.
China