Introduction : Sino–US energy competition in resource rich states

Abstract

This book presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. David Zweig emphasizes in the book that US-China energy competition over resources generates a triangular relationship among the US, China and the resource rich state (RRS). As Nicholas Thomas shows, how US government officials have pressured Australia not to accommodate China's strategic interests or national goals, even as Australia became increasingly dependent on China's growth for its own economic security. The US's energy security concerns and its global energy strategy are fundamentally two-fold: avoid large oil supply disruptions or oil transit disruptions, and avoid oil price shocks that may damage the US economy or that of its allies. The book analyzes Brazil, Angola, Nigeria and Kazakhstan, the 'neutral' countries to show, how these neutral states were able to manipulate China and the US, and interact with both major powers with greater flexibility than that demonstrated by allies or pariahs.