As the countries of the world are slowly becoming more tied to each other, the relationship they have with energy is one that sparks interest. Brenda Shafer’s Energy Politics shows us that both energy and politics are undoubtly linked. The energy policies that countries enact can help boost both countries trust with each other as well as provide new economic roles for a developing country. This paper will analyze how countries are influenced to form bonds with each other, through pipelines such as the one between Kazakhstan and China, or are hindered from progress, which is the case with India and Pakistan. Also, since the U.S. has a major role in energy politics, its role will be looked at in how it is hindered with its own domestic policies and also what it is doing to help these oil producing countries.
One drawback that oil-producing countries have is that if they focus too much on oil, they are not paying attention to other sectors of their economy. Other areas of the economy such as manufacturing and textiles are overlooked in an oil producing state. As Shafer illustrates, oil prices are volatile so they are unstable producing unstable economies, hence, they cannot have a fully functioning economy. Only when the oil sector is doing well do governments keep up with large-scale state spending. However, if the oil sector is not doing well, the country’s infrastructure will suffer because the government can’t provide money for projects. Also, the people of the country will lose jobs and this will eventually impact the economy negatively because people are not allowed to go out and spend their money. Sometimes, countries form relationships with each other which will allow both countries’ economies to thrive.
Stable relationships between the producers and consumers are crucial in pipeline linkages. Since pipelines offer a long-term investment, it is necessary