Originally published in Foreign Policy, August 6, 2024.
The United States is a global leader in geothermal, advanced nuclear, next-generation wind, and battery storage technology, as well as the data systems behind every modern power grid. Thanks to advances in extraction technology, the United States produces more oil and gas today than any country in human history. At the same time, the role of energy security in geopolitics and global stability has never been starker, as the massive dislocations in global energy markets during the COVID pandemic and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made clear. Helping key U.S. allies achieve energy security is one of the most powerful ways Washington can bolster its friends, reduce their dependence on authoritarian adversaries, and support innovation at home. Yet despite bipartisan interest and a bevy of existing international energy programs, the U.S. government currently has no effective way to deliver on that promise.
When the United States partnered with other countries to help South Africa end debilitating power outages and transition away from coal, the U.S. Treasury Department cobbled together an unimpressive package consisting of one small grant plus promises of possible loans. A similar deal for Indonesia is even less certain. And when Nigerian officials arrived in Washington recently to pitch an energy transition partnership, the U.S. had little to offer. The United States is now preparing to help Ukraine protect and rebuild its energy system, with multiple agencies scrambling to figure out what they can offer.
International energy partnerships are not charity. Boosting the energy security of U.S. allies helps the United States in its strategic goals. To counter the Russian threats to Poland, Romania, and other Eastern European countries, the U.S. must help diversify how those countries get their energy. If the U.S. wants to tackle climate change, it has to spark far greater and faster deployment of clean energy, especially in carbon-intensive emerging markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. If Washington is serious about diversifying global clean energy supply chains, it must work with mineral-rich countries like Zambia to build energy systems to power large-scale mining and processing operations. And if the United States wants to provide a credible alternative to Chinese or Russian investment in places like the Philippines or Nigeria, it has to put far more on the table than lofty rhetoric. In short, energy security is the thread that supports nearly every major foreign-policy objective.
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