The new global energy geopolitical game

Detailed analysis of the current global energy scenario and the historical evolution of American relations with the Middle Eastern powers lead to the conclusion that with time, the US will have to relinquish its dominant position as defender of free passage through the Strait of Hormuz and refocus its attentions from that region to the Western Hemisphere, whose energy potential is still emerging. [...] In fact, the current energy policy as stated by the Department of Natural Resources offers the same prescriptions as the policies of the Mulroney government, put in place in response to the NEP. [...] Once there is a national plan, the Prime Minister can move to the international scene by establishing strong partnerships that can provide the basis for Canada’s leadership in the energy sector, from the Arctic to the south- ernmost tip of the Western Hemisphere. [...] In discussing the question “Is there a Grand Strategy in Canadian Foreign Policy?” David Pratt, former Defence Minister, likes Yale University historian Paul Kennedy’s definition: The crux of grand strategy lies therefore in policy, that is, in the capacity of the nation’s leaders to bring together all of the elements, both military and nonmilitary, for the preservation and enhancement of the nati [...] The events in Georgia meant that with one deftly executed play, Russia asserted its control over one of only two oil and gas transport corridors outside its territory which connect the oil-rich Caspian region to Europe and the West.20 Given that Europe imports 82 percent of the oil and 57 percent of the natural gas that it consumes, and that half of the gas and 30 percent of the oil come from Russ