Harriman Institute is the host of a colloquia on Eurasian Pipelines entitled ”Eurasian Pipelines – Road to Peace, Development and Interdependencies.” The first colloquium took place in April 2006 and the final colloquium is planned for the spring of 2008.
The 21st century is and will continue to be dominated by the search for and the securing of energy resources, in particular oil and gas. The reason is clear. There is an almost ever increasing need for energy supply throughout the world. However the impact, especially the geopolitical, economic, social and environmental consequences, not only on the natural resource producing countries themselves, but also on the energy importing nations, has to be continually and constantly studied and analyzed. Therefore new alliances and rivalries are being (and will continue to be) formed that would not have been thought possible a few decades ago, or even a few years ago. This presents a new political challenge. Many nations will have to incorporate energy strategy into their foreign policy and accordingly rethink their traditional foreign policy approach and strategies.
The world picture speaks for itself. Russia is building up an energy empire which creates new dependencies on this source of energy in Europe. West and Eastern Europe are accordingly forced to move closer together, if not in concert, to solve their energy needs and problems. The Far East is expanding its search for energy and, accordingly, its net all over the planet, competing with more traditional energy purchasers. And South Asia keeps up in the race for energy resources. Why? All in order to feed the demand of growing or richer populations for economic growth and therefore energy. This requires secure resource supplies and distribution networks at a time when some of the world’s energy fields are already on the decline and distribution systems are increasingly vulnerable to disruption.
If one does not examine the existing and future energy supply and transportation/ distribution systems, one will fail to understand the evolving political and economic landscapes that are nurturing these new alliances and forcing new strategies. It is therefore crucial to understand the world’s energy distribution systems and how they will develop in the next decades. Within these systems, pipelines play a major, but little understood role.
The colloquia focus on the prism of Eurasian pipelines, a key method of energy distribution for Russia and Central Asia. These areas are key for the world’s future energy supply and home for some of the key players in the great energy game of the 21st Century.
In April 2006, the series started with a colloquium entitled „Transgas Pipeline (1970) – Baltic Sea Pipeline (NEGP, 2005) revisited“ focusing on the historic West-German-Soviet gas pipeline and on the presently being constructed Northern European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) project, which runs between Russia and Germany, bypassing Poland, Ukraine and the Baltics. This was particularly appropriate in light of the events in the winter of 2006 between Ukraine and Russia concerning the cutoff of gas deliveries to Ukraine and accordingly Europe through the existing pipeline system. Among the speakers were Otto Graf Lambsdorff, former Federal Minister of Economics of Germany; Jonathan Stern, Director of Gas Research, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies; Tim Gould, Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, and many others.
The second colloquium entitled “Eurasian Pipelines and East Asia: A Path to Integration or A Marriage of Convenience?“ will be held at the end of November 2006 and deal with Russian and Kazakh pipelines that are to deliver oil and gas to East Asia, to China, Japan, and other Asian countries. International experts and public figures will present papers and findings of their studies, projects and analyses on these regions and the impacted players.
The following colloquia are planned for 2007-2008: ”The Pipeline Race to India and Pakistan - Is the so-called Peace Pipeline from Iran Prospective Reality or Wishful Thinking? Is The Turkmenistan Route Still an Option?” and “The Caucasus, the Middle East and Europe –How Many Pipelines are Enough?”
The colloquia are designed to promote a lively interchange of ideas. Many of the papers and presentations will be posted on this web site to promote further discussion and research.
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