"Red Storm Ahead"’: Securitisation of energy in US-China relations

Asian Perspective, 2018

Since the early 2000s, energy security has appeared frequently in Chinese policy statements. The focus is on security of supply, even if the discourse is becoming more attentive to other dimen sions, such as environmental sustainability. Securitization theory can shed light on this specific threat construction and its implica tions for China and Chinese foreign policy. Applying securitiza tion theory and reviewing existing debates, I show how the con struction of an external threat and a focus on securing access to oil downplay other vulnerabilities and contribute to the percep tion among China's neighbors and others of a Chinese threat, despite new Chinese security discourses to the contrary. I argue that two factors contribute to this threat construction and its resilience: the role of national oil companies and the limited mobi lizing power of environmental and climate security discourses.

2008

The past few years of rapidly rising energy costs, coupled with concerns over the long term stability of oil and gas supplies, have helped bring the notion of “energy security” to the forefront of the international scene. Especially since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the “resource war” thesis has had an unremitting “fossil fuels case” to support it. Russia and the EU continue tense discussions over natural gas supplies, while the head of Russia’s state-led gas monopoly, Gazprom, was recently elected (installed, some say) as President of that energy-rich state. Ongoing tensions over Iran’s pursuit of nuclear technologies, China’s seemingly relentless search for coal and oil, Canada’s tar-sands, and the global obsession with biofuels, all highlight the importance of energy concerns in relations among the world’s states today. Indeed, one might be tempted to see energy security emerging as a dominant discourse in the field of security in the 21 century. The concept of energy security is ...

China Quarterly, 2004

China's shift to a net oil importer has generated much speculation outside China about how China's growing dependence on foreign oil will affect its international behaviour. This discussion is framed by two competing models of China's future approach to energy security: one that foresees deeper integration into global energy markets and another that predicts efforts to minimize reliance on these markets in potentially destabilizing ways. Less attention has been paid, however, to the parallel debate unfolding inside China over how to ensure the country's oil needs are met without undermining national security. This article introduces the main participants in the debate, how the debate relates to energy security decision-making, and some of the measures to enhance energy security under consideration. It concludes with a discussion of some of the factors that will shape China's emerging approach to energy security.

China's debate over what ‘energy security’ is and how it can be achieved has evolved considerably over the past decade. Traditionally, Chinese officials and analysts have been most worried about China's mounting oil imports, and they have expressed considerable wariness of international energy markets and institutions. This narrow and relatively nationalistic view of China's energy-security challenge has been challenged on several different fronts, however, particularly in the past five years. Prominent analysts now call for a more positive approach to international markets and institutions, and some argue that external dependence is a less important energy security challenge than the shortcomings of China's own energy system. China's broadening debate over energy security represents an opportunity for the outside world as it engages China on energy and climate change in the years ahead.

Management & Marketing, 2016

Energy security is a constant presence in the energy-related political discourse all over the world. States strive to secure steady inflows of needed energy supplies, as well as the price affordability of those supplies. However, what are deemed to be the best means to meet such goals depends on one’s theoretical vantage point. On the one hand, economically-minded theorists maintain that energy security is only a matter of market rules and interactions. Thus, they call upon energy markets to deliver both steady supplies and competitive prices. On the other hand, politically-minded scholars emphasize the political and hard-power nature of international energy trades, especially in a global context market by the emergence of state-centered, authoritarian regimes that use large national energy companies as foreign policy instruments. These two positions delineate competing approaches to how energy security risks ought to be managed. The former approaches energy security risks by means ...

Energy and Security Cooperation in Asia: Challenges and Prospects is a Monograph published by the Institute for Security and Development Policy. Monographs provide comprehensive analyses of key issues presented by leading experts. The Institute is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and cooperates closely with research centers worldwide. Through its Silk Road Studies Program, the Institute runs a joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. The Institute is firmly established as a leading research and policy center, serving a large and diverse community of analysts, scholars, policy-watchers, business leaders, and journalists. It is at the forefront of research on issues of conflict, security, and development. Through its applied research, publications, research cooperation, public lectures, and seminars, it functions as a focal point for academic, policy, and public discussion. This publication is kindly made possible by support from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The opinions and conclusions expressed are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute for Security and Development Policy or its sponsors.

The debates over energy security in the 1970s, having burgeoned amidst the transformation of energy markets following the oil shocks, were at the time mostly based on narrow geopolitical and economic views related to the security of a reliable and affordable supply. Since then, the meaning of energy security has evolved and come to encompass a broader range of considerations. This Contract Report is intended as a survey of the debates over energy security in their contemporary form. The discussion revolves around two interrelated themes: first, the complexity of the concept of energy security and the overlapping but at times disparate debates that occur around the concept; second, the differing policy interventions that follow from attempts to render energy more -secure.‖ The purpose of this Report is to highlight how the politics surrounding the concept of energy security in a contemporary setting influence policy intervention(s), and the implications of the policy choices therein. Given the persistent saliency of energy security in public and political debates in recent years, it is crucial to find ways for coherent discussions over comprehensive sets of policy choices to take place and help deal with this issue.

China has in recent years risen to the top of the list of energy importing nations. Sometime in the past decade it overtook the United States as the world’s largest consumer of imported energy (IEA, 2014). The dramatic increase of China’s share in international energy markets has prompted the government in Beijing to prioritise relations with external suppliers. These include some of China’s closes neighbours as well as countries geographically remote from China. The country’s rapid economic growth and securing the means to fuel this growth have come to dominate Beijing’s thinking on foreign policy. China’s external relations increasingly prioritise making overseas investments in new sources of imported energy. As a result, its energy security and foreign relations have become inextricably intertwined. This special issue contains several scholarly works that explore the modalities of China’s energy security strategy and its impact on the country’s commercial relations with the rest of the world. Contributions assess the environmental implications of this strategy and discuss what it tells us about China as an international actor. The approach to energy security, geopolitics and the environment taken in this special issue is interdisciplinary. The articles presented here draw on approaches and methodologies from the disciplines of economics, management, political ecology, area studies and international relations to study China’s energy diplomacy and its international impact. Contributions cover a range of energy sources, from petroleum and natural gas to solar, hydropower and other renewables.

2012

The U.S. is relatively well placed when it comes to energy security (defined as security from shocks in prices). We are finding more fossil fuelsespecially natural gas -and are otherwise buffered from disaster by advantages ranging from the existence of strategic reserves to market mechanisms that plug gaps in our supply. In the future, we have less to fear from diminishing supply than from rising demand, especially in rapidly industrializing countries. The U.S. should engage in a policy of strategic restraint in the Middle East: military force is not the best instrument to use in securing energy supplies. However, the U.S. Armed Forces can increase energy efficiency, provided this does not undermine the effectiveness of its fighting forces. Fossil fuels will play a major role in meeting energy needs for many decades to come because they are energy-dense, cost-effective, and supported by an existing infrastructure. In addition, new technologies take a long time to develop. That said, the pursuit of alternative energy is logical. Reducing reliance on foreign imports will ease trade imbalances. Ending the reign of oil as a strategic commodity will provide opportunities for poorer nations to compete in the energy market, encourage reforms in oil-rich countries, and undermine support for extremists who depend on petrodollars. Having domestic

2014