Well, it seems the US Department of State has decided to start watching the world of oil and gas on an official basis. So says US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who plans to appoint a special envoy for energy issues to deal with the use of oil and gas for political means.
“It is a really important part of diplomacy, in fact, I think I would go so far as to say that some of the politics of energy is warping diplomacy in certain parts of the world,” Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Feb. 12.
“I do intend to appoint, and we are looking for, a special energy coordinator who could especially spend time on the Central Asian and Caspian region,” she said.
She was making her pitch on Capitol Hill in response to questions from Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who asked about progress made on establishing such a post as called for in legislation approved last year.
Russia’s extortion
Lugar was especially vexed about Russia’s use of oil and gas as a political weapon, saying among other things that, “Moscow continues to use energy to extort its neighbors.”
In fact, Lugar went on to explain, “Russian foreign policy is now largely based on maximizing the political leverage and financial earnings of its energy supplies and dominating the transport of energy in Eurasia.”
Lugar’s interest in this issue follows his recent journey to Azerbaijan where he met with senior government officials and opposition leaders in Baku. There, Lugar reaffirmed his call for President Bush to appoint a special representative for energy in the greater Caspian region.
“Appointment of a special representative for energy would be a clear statement of high-level US priority for this strategically critical region. Failure to demonstrate US commitment will jeopardize progress on trans-Caspian energy cooperation, with potentially devastating impacts on long-term US security and economic interests in the region,” Lugar said.
Big wide world
In a letter to Sec. Rice on Oct. 4, 2007, Lugar joined with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden in calling for such a position, stating that, “further opening of the East-West energy corridor from Central Asia through the Caucuses and on to Western markets should have the full backing of US diplomacy.”
Lugar praised the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline effort, saying it is “a bold strategic initiative that today reaps tremendous benefits…. We must not lose sight of our long-term interest in preventing Russian domination of energy in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia.”
We applaud the desire of Sen. Lugar to keep watching the world, as well as Sec. Rice for finally getting on the bandwagon for oil and gas diplomacy. But let’s not forget: The world needs diplomatic backing far beyond confrontation with Russia.
It’s a big wide world out there, and wherever oil and gas is to be found, there is need for diplomacy.
