The First World War ended a century of relative peace in Europe brokered by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Since then energy has been an essential component in the foreign and security dogmas of the great powers. Is the inevitability of these postulates continuing in the 21st century a given? Perhaps the time has come to step back and seriously deliberate as to whether energy needs to be de-linked from foreign and security policies.

There is a great moral hazard in not questioning these strategic tenets of yesteryear that have perpetuated themselves into this century. It is imperative to first delineate the embedded nature of this convergence.

Successive presidents of the US have enunciated security doctrines for guaranteed supplies of abundant and cheap sources of energy. In 1980, President Carter declared that access to Persian Gulf oil was a vital national interest and that the US would be prepared to use military force to protect it. President Carter’s Rapid Deployment Joint Task force has evolved into the US Central Command, with an area of operations that is contiguous with the energy-rich west/central Asian and Caspian Sea regions.

At the turn of the millennium, the project for ‘The New American Century’ recommended massive power projection capability globally, both to intensify pressure on nations labeled as rogue states and for taking action for acquisition of new and existing oil and gas fields. In May 2001, President George W. Bush’s New Energy Policy recommended that ties with oil-rich countries should be deepened and US presence broadened. The 2001 Quadrennial Defence Review spoke of the need for the US to enhance ability to send forces to critical points around the globe. It identified overseas oil-producing regions as these critical points.

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