ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an important race is under way in the field of energy that will help shape the contours of the twenty-first century. It is a race between alternatives to oil, and five factors that are making oil more important for the global economy and will increasingly place the Middle East even more so at the center of global oil security. The chapter explores at the national level, the Barack Obama administration has promised to put the United States on a serious path to greater reliance on alternatives. It begins with a brief discussion of five factors that will likely make oil and the Middle East far more important than they are today. The chapter situates threats into a balanced perspective, arguing that while they are very serious, a number of developments over the past thirty years can help mitigate them, to some extent at least. It concludes some policy recommendations that follow from the basic arguments presented here.
