Following last week’s focus on safeguarding global food security, we now turn to another strategically important resource. The global production and supply of oil, natural gas and, increasingly, renewable or alternative sources of energy, remains the foundation for the world’s interconnected economies. This dependency inevitably makes the leading producers of energy pivotal to the needs and demands of resource-hungry states. And since many leading producer nations have ‘difficult’ (or at least complicated) relations with either resource-dependent powers or regional adversaries, they are in a position to use their energy reserves to advance specific geopolitical and strategic goals.

In order to understand why energy resources continue to be used as instruments of statecraft and even as ‘weapons’, we begin our week-long focus on this important subject with a ‘by-the-numbers’ portrait of today’s global energy supplies and their networks. We then consider how, when and why states use these reserves, and the transportation routes that support them, in order to gain strategic leverage over their rivals. To build on our analysis, on Wednesday we will present a case study of the political and strategic calculations that shape the energy policies of the Caucasus region. The controversies outlined in this study help explain why various states are increasingly looking for alternative supplies of energy to fuel their economy. Given this quest, on Thursday we will consider whether the goal of energy self-sufficiency is desirable or even achievable, or whether it remains nothing more than a ‘pipe dream’. We then conclude our week by looking at how energy security poses a safeguarding challenge not just on the international level but at the national level too. To bring this local challenge into greater focus, we will specifically look at the case of Nigeria.