New Energy, New Geopolitics: Balancing Stability and Leverage

An assessment of how shale gas and tight oil in the United States is impacting energy, geopolitical and national security dynamics around the world.

CSIS – In early 2013, the CSIS Energy and National Security Program and the Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies assembled a broad multi-functional team to explore how shale gas and tight oil in the United States is impacting energy, geopolitical and national security dynamics around the world, with the intention of providing policymakers with a structured way to consider the potential risks and rewards of the new shale gas and tight oil resources.

The result was the report, “New Energy, New Geopolitics: Balancing Stability and Leverage” which concludes:

  • Shale gas and tight oil have had important impacts on the global energy sector. It has changed energy trade flows, altered the investment outlook for energy projects, reordered the climate change debate, and has helped change the energy posture of the United States, to name a few.
  • To date, the broader geopolitical impacts have remained limited. The uncertain trajectory of U.S. production, and even more uncertain, the potential for global production, make anticipating future impacts difficult.
  • So far, perception leads reality when it comes to geopolitical and national security impacts. Many countries are acting on early interpretations of the shale gas and tight oil trend.
  • A U.S. strategy for how to incorporate shale gas and tight oil developments into its current energy and national security strategies is still evolving. Going forward, U.S. policymakers face a choice between two strategic paths for managing shale gas and tight oil resources: “energy stability” or “energy leverage.”
  • This report concludes that “energy stability” is the most prudent and robust approach against a range of potential energy futures and recommends that the United States pursue policies that hew more closely to an “energy-stability” approach.

In addition to the summary for policymakers and report, CSIS will publish three contributing reports- one on energy, one on geopolitics and national security, and one of scenarios, strategies and pathways. These contributing reports will offer greater detail to the analysis provided in “New Energy, New Geopolitics: Balancing Stability and Leverage.” Tiếp tục đọc “New Energy, New Geopolitics: Balancing Stability and Leverage”

Japan: How Energy Security Shapes Foreign Policy

thediplomat_Five years after the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, public debates over nuclear power are still having an impact on Japan’s energy mix — and that, in turn, helps shape Japanese foreign policy. The Diplomat speaks with Jane Nakano, a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the connection between Japan’s energy security concerns and its foreign policy decision making.

The Diplomat: What effect do you think the indictment and impeding trial of the three former TEPCO executives will have on the public debate in Japan over the future of nuclear energy? What other energy options does Japan have?

Nakano: The current public apprehension over, or opposition to, nuclear power generation in Japan seems to stem from their loss of trust in nuclear safety and governance. It is unclear as to what extent the indictment of TEPCO officials five years later may serve to restore the public confidence in nuclear safety and governance.

Diversification will remain to be the key in enhancing Japan’s sense of energy security.  As fossil fuels will remain important in Japan, as in most of the industrialized economies around the world, Japan is focused on using natural gas—which is the cleanest type of fossil fuels—and advancing clean coal technologies while promoting the greater use of wind and solar.

How dependent is Japan on oil imports from the Middle East, and how does this shape Japan’s foreign policy approach to the region? Tiếp tục đọc “Japan: How Energy Security Shapes Foreign Policy”

Dự báo triển vọng phát triển công tác xã hội tại việt nam đến năm 2020

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Nhân viên công tác xã hội tại Bệnh viện Việt Đức đang giúp đỡ bệnh nhân.​

CTXH

1. Sự phát triển CTXH trên thế giới

Lịch sử phát triển của xã hội loài người cho thấy trong xã hội luôn có những bộ phận dân cư có mức sống thấp hơn mức sống trung bình của cộng đồng cần đến sự trợ giúp của xã hội để duy trì sự tồn tại và nắm bắt cơ hội vươn lên đạt tới những mức sống cao hơn. Nắm bắt tâm lý khát khao sinh tồn và vươn lên của những con người có hoàn cảnh khó khăn đó, nhiều cá nhân có tấm lòng hảo tâm đã ra tay trợ giúp. Đây chính là nguồn gốc manh nha hình thành nghề CTXH hiện nay. Tiếp tục đọc “Dự báo triển vọng phát triển công tác xã hội tại việt nam đến năm 2020”

Project RENEW’s Prosthetics and Orthotics Mobile Outreach Program

LM – Project RENEW established a mobile outreach program to provide prostheses, orthotics and education to explosive remnants of war survivors in the remote communities of Vietnam.

Susan Eckey, Former Deputy Director General for Humanitarian Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visits with the P&O team. Photo courtesy of Dang Quang Toan/Project RENEW.

Susan Eckey, Former Deputy Director General for Humanitarian Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visits with the P&O team.
Photo courtesy of Dang Quang Toan/Project RENEW.

According to a 2014 report compiled by Vietnam’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Quang Tri province currently has 37,292 persons with disabilities, 13,023 of whom were disabled by Agent Orange and 5,094 by explosive remnants of war (ERW).1,2,3 Disabled persons living in rural areas often live in poverty and do not have access to basic services. For those with injuries resulting from unexploded ordnance (UXO), prosthetics are difficult to obtain. Tiếp tục đọc “Project RENEW’s Prosthetics and Orthotics Mobile Outreach Program”