ISAS Working Papers

The geopolitics of energy in today's world principally revolve around oil and, to a lesser degree, gas, both of which are not merely trading but geopolitical commodities. Global energy geopolitics will be principally shaped by the 'arc of energy', stretching from the Gulf region to the Caspian Sea, through Siberia and the Arctic region to the Russian Far East, Alaska and Canada. It is in this region that nearly 80 percent of the world's oil and gas, including potential reserves, are located. Asian countries, having the world's most dynamic economies, and comprising half the world's population, will remain dependent on energy from this arc. They will also be the principal consumers of energy from this region in the coming decades. The already complex traditional geopolitics of this region, marked by myriad inter-state disputes and instability, have been immensely further complicated by energy geopolitics and created enormous tensions and potential deadly conflicts.