Robert Bryce on the Coming Resource Wars

Robert Bryce on resource interdependence.

Question: Are we going to see more resource wars in the future?
Robert Bryce: That is hard for me to predict at there I know that this is a topic that Michael Klare and other people have promoted as the idea of that we are going to fight over water, oil and timber you name it. What I see is a world becoming more interdependent and in every thing my book is the thesis of my book Gusher of Lies is really that the world is interdependent in any number of commodities whether it is ipods or beer or fresh flowers tenacious and that interdependence is going to strengthen actually in the coming years because we have no choice and as different companies, as I am sorry as different countries become better at a producing certain commodities they will assert their influence in the market place and my book debunks the idea that energy independence is possible that is doable or even desirable for the US well, what we really need to be looking at is interdependence and that is in fact what the market and energy and other commodities just had for decades and will continue to have. There clearly is a lot of rhetoric about the issue of oil and fighting over oil I think what I see in the future as natural gas becomes a more critical player in the global economy it is I think much more of a by necessity it is a much more co-operative commercial enterprise, pipe lines require stronger connections between countries and gas really is only effectively moved to led the movement by gas pipe line, we are going to see on an emerging gas market that is global due to the increasing use of liquefied natural gas and I think compressed natural gas which is not in the market yet in any significant degree at least in the marine market but I think I would argue the opposite because I think it is the world gets more integrated is the market for energy gets more integrated, I think that we are going to see further cooperation among countries because it is in their commercial interest and in fact if you look at what has happened with Iran despite America's efforts to isolate the Iranians what we are in fact saying as the Iranians making multiple commercial deals with numerous countries around the world whether it is a Brazilians, the Turks, the Austrians, the Iranians are integrating their economy and their energy commodities in to the global economy and doing it very effectively.
Date Recorded: 03/20/2008

Question: Are we going to see more resource wars in the future?
Robert Bryce: That is hard for me to predict at there I know that this is a topic that Michael Klare and other people have promoted as the idea of that we are going to fight over water, oil and timber you name it. What I see is a world becoming more interdependent and in every thing my book is the thesis of my book Gusher of Lies is really that the world is interdependent in any number of commodities whether it is ipods or beer or fresh flowers tenacious and that interdependence is going to strengthen actually in the coming years because we have no choice and as different companies, as I am sorry as different countries become better at a producing certain commodities they will assert their influence in the market place and my book debunks the idea that energy independence is possible that is doable or even desirable for the US well, what we really need to be looking at is interdependence and that is in fact what the market and energy and other commodities just had for decades and will continue to have. There clearly is a lot of rhetoric about the issue of oil and fighting over oil I think what I see in the future as natural gas becomes a more critical player in the global economy it is I think much more of a by necessity it is a much more co-operative commercial enterprise, pipe lines require stronger connections between countries and gas really is only effectively moved to led the movement by gas pipe line, we are going to see on an emerging gas market that is global due to the increasing use of liquefied natural gas and I think compressed natural gas which is not in the market yet in any significant degree at least in the marine market but I think I would argue the opposite because I think it is the world gets more integrated is the market for energy gets more integrated, I think that we are going to see further cooperation among countries because it is in their commercial interest and in fact if you look at what has happened with Iran despite America's efforts to isolate the Iranians what we are in fact saying as the Iranians making multiple commercial deals with numerous countries around the world whether it is a Brazilians, the Turks, the Austrians, the Iranians are integrating their economy and their energy commodities in to the global economy and doing it very effectively.
Date Recorded: 03/20/2008