Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet

"Klare's superb book explains, in haunting detail, the trends that will lead us into a series of dangerous traps unless we muster the will to transform the way we use energy."--Bill McKibben

Oil recently hit $140 a barrel, and it is still climbing. Unlike the oil shocks of the 1970s, this dizzying leap is not the product of an OPEC embargo or a sudden flare-up in the Middle East. Rather, it is a harbinger of a permanent new structure of world power, one in which market forces and military strength matter far less than the scarcity of vital natural resources.

Now in paperback, "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet" surveys the energy-driven dynamic that is reconfiguring the international landscape: Russia, the battered Cold War loser, is now the arrogant broker of Eurasian energy, and the United States, once the world's superpower, must now compete with the emerging "Chindia" juggernaut for finite and diminishing resources. Forecasting a future of surprising new alliances and explosive danger, Michael T. Klare, the preeminent expert on resource geopolitics, argues that the only route to survival in our radically altered world lies through international cooperation. Michael T. Klare is the author of thirteen books, including "Blood and Oil "and "Resource Wars." A regular contributor to "Harper's," "Foreign Affairs," and the "Los Angeles Times," he is the defense analyst for "The Nation "and the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst. In March 2005, an unprecedented Chinese attempt to acquire the major American energy firm Unocal was blocked by Congress amidst hysterical warnings of a Communist threat. But the political grandstanding missed a larger point: the takeover bid was a harbinger of a new structure of world power, based not on market forces or on arms and armies but on the possession of vital natural resources.
Surveying the energy-driven dynamic that is reconfiguring the international landscape, Michael Klare, the preeminent expert on resource geopolitics, forecasts a future of surprising new alliances and explosive danger. World leaders are now facing the stark recognition that all materials vital for the functioning of modern industrial societies (not just oil and natural gas but uranium, coal, copper, and others) are finite and being depleted at an ever-accelerating rate. As a result, governments rather than corporations are increasingly spearheading the pursuit of resources. In a radically altered world--where Russia is transformed from battered Cold War loser to arrogant broker of Eurasian energy, and the United States is forced to compete with the emerging "Chindia" juggernaut--the only route to survival on a shrinking planet, Klare shows, is through international cooperation. "If you want to understand the future of international relations, worry less about ideology and more about oil reserves. Michael Klare's superb new book explains, in haunting detail, the trends that will lead us into a series of dangerous traps, unless we muster the will to transform the way we use energy in this country. As illuminating as it is unsettling."--Bill McKibben, author "The Bill McKibben Reader"

"What happens to world politics in an era marked by rising oil prices and resource scarcity? In this provocative study, Klare depicts a coming struggle for energy that will ignite dangerous geopolitical competition, with major states increasingly intervening in markets in an attempt to gain access and control."--John Ikenberry, "Foreign Affairs
""In clear and compelling fashion Michael Klare warns of the dangers of conflict among the United States, China, and Russia, all jostling for energy. More important, he proposes realistic cooperative projects that can prevent competition from spiraling into war. Policy makers and public alike need to read this book."--Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence
"A brilliant exposition on one of the gigantic problems facing society. Klare is a top expert on the politics of energy and resources."--Paul R. Ehrlich, author of "The Dominant Animal
""Klare gives a good, comprehensive account of the tightening noose of available conventional energy resources. From 'peak oil' to the under-reported limitations of available fuel supply for nuclear power, here is a convincing case that the energy crunch is at least as threatening, if not more so, as the current credit crisis. Especially relevant in the current energy debate is Klare's point that there is only 40 years' worth of available uranium supply left to feed the world's 440 civilian reactors, and that any growth in nuclear generation will reduce that further . . . Climate change, Klare writes, is the 'ultimate squeeze.' It sounds like a rather terrifying hot date which, of course, it is. The future, he argues, is a bigger role for the state and more state collaboration, especially between China and the US."--"New Scientist
""Four centuries ago, as the conquistadors roamed through South America, it was the search for gold that drove the clash of empires. A hundred years later, as the great powers fought over the West Indies, it was the quest for land that could grow sugar cane. Today, the key commodity is oil. No one knows this subject better than Michael Klare, and his book is a trenchant and informative guide to what the fatal thirst for oil means for the tensions and rivalries of our fragile planet."--Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost
""If you want to understand the future of international relations, worry less about ideology and more about oil reserves. Michael Klare's superb new book explains, in haunting detail, the trends that will lead us into a series of dangerous traps, unless we muster the will to transform the way we use energy in this country. As illuminating as it is unsettling."--Bill McKibben, author of "The Bill McKibben Reader
""Once again, Michael Klare has vividly sp