Contents
Over the past two decades, the world has undergone tremendous changes in geopolitics, energy and climate. It’s time for us to update our understanding of how things work.
Mapping the world is a familiar way for the human brain to make sense of the order of forces around it. Global changes in this view are the subject of the book “The New Map of the World. Energy resources, changing climate and the clash of nations”
Daniel Yergin, former lecturer at Harvard Business School, is best known for his books on energy and the global market. At various times, he was awarded the Eccles Award for the best popular book on economics, the Pulitzer Prize, and an Emmy for a documentary series on globalization and the clash of governments and markets. The author’s broad-mindedness and ability to explain in an accessible way how the US elections, oil futures contracts and the dynastic situation in Saudi Arabia are connected make Yergin’s new book both useful and fascinating.
What is this book about?
Our ideas about geopolitics and the global economy are often based on outdated ideas. The world has changed, but due to the complexity of systems and the abundance of data, many changes have eluded us. Here are a few stereotypes that, according to the author, have firmly entered the public consciousness, although they have not corresponded to reality for a long time.
US Depends on Middle Eastern Oil
The shale revolution put the United States on an energy pedestal, securing the world’s first place in oil and gas production and eliminating any dependence on external energy supplies.
our country can use its pipelines as political leverage
This approach worked 20 years ago, when there were tough multi-year contracts in place, and gas suppliers could dictate terms. Now it’s a buyer’s market. An increasing share of natural gas is being liquefied and transported anywhere in the world – and pipelines are no longer needed for this. Moreover, our country itself joined the club of liquefied natural gas suppliers by opening a new port of Sabetta in the Arctic and building 15 ice-class gas tankers for transportation along the Northern Sea Route.
China wants to take over our Far East
The key territorial interest of our eastern neighbor lies in a completely different direction: these are the disputed islands of the South China Sea, the most important transport artery and source of natural resources. Two-thirds of China’s maritime trade is carried out through its waters, 10% of the world’s fish catch and 40% of seafood consumed by China, Southeast Asia’s largest market, are produced here. The situation here has repeatedly reached a direct confrontation, and only miraculously managed to avoid the opening of fire.
First world countries pollute the environment the most
When it comes to CO2 emissions, the palm belongs to China. Africa is the main source of plastic in the sea.
Quote
“From the collapse of Soviet communism in 1991 until the global financial crisis of 2008, the American model of managing the world economy was by and large accepted by all. But the 2008 disaster struck at the very heart of the American economy, or, as the Chinese saw it, “at the heart of the capitalist world.” The Chinese model of the state (and party) economy offered an alternative. Moreover, China became the engine that first pulled the global economy out of the crisis, and then returned it to the path of recovery.”
Why read a book?
To get a clear picture of many processes: from the extraction and distribution of energy carriers to why Elon Musk is considered a revolutionary innovator. A separate plus is that Daniel Yergin manages to refrain from criticizing the political system and civil liberties in countries outside of Europe and North America. He does not give assessments from the standpoint of personal political views, but fixes the status quo.