Global energy demand is intensifying and oil prices are through the roof. We don’t need to tell you that, given that the average price for a gallon of gas in New Hampshire is at $3.92, nearly a dollar more than a year ago.
But higher energy prices won’t just empty our pockets, they’re triggering changes in the international balance of power. With competition intensifying for finite natural resources, governments, not just corporations, are using weapons trades and political favors in the grab for fossil fuel - making for some powerful, and risky, alliances.
As Michael T. Klare writes in his new book, "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy," the conflicts of the future will not be fought over ideology, but over resources. Klare is director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and he joined Word of Mouth from WFCR in Amherst.
(Photo by Dana Robinson)
