ABSTRACT
Although American policy-makers have always voiced strong confidence in the role of markets in providing this country and others with the overseas oil they need to satisfy rising domestic requirements, they have recently expressed a growing requirement for military force to ensure the safe delivery of those supplies. In late 2006, for example, a policy group convened by the Council on Foreign Relations concluded, “As the world market for oil relies on increasingly distant sources of supply, often in insecure places, the need to protect the production and transportation infrastructure will grow.” Under these circumstances, the group asserted, the vital role of “US regionally deployed forces” in providing such protection “will be necessary in the future.” In particular, “US naval protection of the sea-lanes that transport oil is of paramount importance.”1
