Source: from Géopolitique de l'énergie, IFP, 2007

Amidst the latest and more widespread threat of terrorism, the debate on energy independence is gaining new momentum. Certain members of the American administration believe that North American energy independence should go hand in hand with a stronger energy security policy. Others maintain that the concept of energy independence is unrealistic and what is in fact needed is to reduce domestic demand, develop alternative energy sources and increase investment.
American military strategy has adapted to the new risks and, at the same time, is supporting the strategy to diversify supply. This has been achieved by several means. First, surveillance of production regions and transport routes, made easier by the increased number of military bases being set up. This should begin in the Middle East, starting from an existing base in Qatar and making use of resources deployed to support the Iraq War. In essence, this is the Carter Doctrine, drafted in 1980 by Zbigniew Brzezinski to protect the Persian Gulf from Soviet ambitions, transposed to the threats of terrorism. Benefiting from NATO’s expansion to the east, especially in the Caucasus, agreements have been signed with Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania to open new bases in these countries. Officially intended as a venue for training missions, the bases are strategically well positioned to allow easy entry into neighbouring zones of conflict or where energy resources are significant (the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, Central Asia).
A base was built in Kyrghyztan after the events of 11th September 2001. In Africa, Djibouti controls access to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Sao Tomé, in the Gulf of Guinea, has been earmarked for an American base.
The second pillar of the American strategy calls for the signing or strengthening of military assistance agreements. The treaties signed during the Cold War with Australia, Korea, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines have been updated. The Americans are stationing radars and operational centres in Bakou (Azerbaijan), at the start of the Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The Caspian Guard Initiative, which angered Russia, was transformed into an assistance programme to help countries bordering the Caspian Sea.
The United States has also been focusing on training up of local armies on counter-terrorism: the American base in Hawaii has drilled 300,000 soldiers from South Asia while the Djibouti base is a training site for the region’s forces and coastguards from coastal regions.
Lastly, the Americans are establishing cooperation with neighbouring States: with India for collective Indian/American patrols in the Strait of Malacca, and the organisation of joint manoeuvres (Gulf of Guinea, Panama Canal).
Attention has been directed at the security of energy sites in post-conflict periods. In Iraq, inter-agency groups have been set up, calling for assistance from American government agencies as well as oil service companies and private security firms, in order to outsource a proportion of the resources needed to secure oil production sites.
Energy security is now a global issue and part of the overarching defence and foreign relations policies subscribed to by large countries and groups of countries. It encompasses all public policies: military (the projection of forces, installation of bases, training up of foreign armies), diplomatic (the signing of defence or assistance agreements), and intelligence (the deployment of surveillance resources, appeals to private companies or former soldiers).
Security of supply is both a crucial political issue and an integral facet of the energy market.