Publication

This study offers background insights into the regional energy security issues that are of particular importance to NATO. It does so by taking into account the struggle that global oil suppliers have experienced over the past decade in meeting significant rises in global demand driven by an expanding middle class and emerging markets. To a limited extent, those difficulties have resulted from instability in the Middle East, strikes in Venezuela, internal unrest in Nigeria, and other security problems. As many European states seek to promote diversification of supply, the political relationships between Europe and alternative suppliers remain at the forefront, affecting the nature of NATO’s interests in regions such as Russia, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.