Sea Lanes and Pipelines: Energy Security in Asia

(Hardback)

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An unprecedented description of the critical energy situation throughout Asia, this book examines the energy resources, naval forces, and national strategies of the nations of that vast landmass, set against the priorities and resources of the United States. Energy security in Asia is crucial to the continued economic growth and hence the national security of the region's nations. Providing such security requires a combination of naval, political, and economic policies. Despite dramatic news coverage to the contrary, Cole's research reveals that the nations of the region-of which the United States must be counted-are in fact acting more together than apart in striving to ensure the security of scarce energy resources they all require. No issue in today's international environment is more important than energy security. Even the North Korean nuclear development program must be taken as a subset of this subject. As the United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations have done in past decades, the People's Republic of China is striving to establish proprietorship of energy resources throughout their lifecycle, from recovery from the ground to sale in the market place. This important book demonstrates the vacuity of that paradigm, illustrating the multilateral nature of energy security.

Reviews

[T]his is a serious text dealing with serious issues.Relying on multiple sources whenever possible, Cole draws his conclusion from a wide range of interviews and data and his text contains a substantial bibliography and is heavily footnoted. Within the book, Cole characterizes energy and the freedom of the seas as very much an international responsibility. And, because Asia contains the world's second and third largest consumers of energy, the book is especially timely in its analysis.[T]his book is very much about securing sea lanes for oil tankers. Readers in America, who depend on this mode of transportation for the vast majority of their energy supplies, may find the text of particular interest. This book deals with it all, in a comprehensive manner. * MarEx Newsletter *

Author Bio

Bernard D. Cole (Captain, USN, Retired) is Professor of International History at the National War College in Washington, D.C., where he concentrates on the Chinese military and Asian energy issues. Previously, he served thirty years as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy, all of them in the Pacific. Cole has written numerous articles and book chapters, as well as four books: Gunboats and Marines: The U.S. Navy in China, The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the 21st Century, Oil for the Lamps of China: Beijing's 21st Century Search for Energy, and Taiwan's Security: History and Prospects.