How Scarce Energy Resources Can Quickly Lead to Deadly Wars

By Michael T. Klare, Metropolitan Books. Posted May 31, 2008.

The following is an excerpt from Michael Klare's new book, "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy" (Metropolitan, 2008).

When powerful states wish to signal their determination to pursue particular vital interests against the wishes of weaker powers or deter a rival from overstepping certain boundaries, they often make a conspicuous show of deploying air, ground or naval forces within shooting range of the recipient of the intended "message." These deployments are not normally meant to initiate hostilities -- although they depend on that threat -- but rather to suggest a capacity to employ overwhelming levels of force should a decision be made to do so. Because naval forces were widely employed by the major imperial powers to intimidate and subdue weaker states in Asia, Africa and Latin America in preceding centuries, the phrase "gunboat diplomacy" still captures the essence of this phenomenon today, even though the conspicuous deployment of heavy bombers or Marine expeditionary forces may serve the same purpose.

The fact that gunboat diplomacy of the classic variety is still very much in vogue was plainly manifest in the spring and summer of 2007, when the Bush administration deployed two aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, along with dozens of other warships and hundreds of combat aircraft, in an undisguised attempt to intimidate Iran. The two carriers -- the USS John C. Stennis and the USS Nimitz -- conducted two major combat exercises off the coast of Iran (in full view of Iranian naval vessels) and repeatedly sailed through the Strait of Hormuz to demonstrate Washington's determination to control vital sea lanes in the area. Both ships also participated in combat-support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the Stennis alone launching 7,900 air sorties and dropping nearly 90,000 pounds of bombs on the two countries.

Photographs and videos of the May 2007 combined-carrier operations, held in conjunction with the USS Bonhomme Richard (a carrier-sized helicopter-assault ship), the USS Antietam cruiser, the missile-armed destroyers USS O'Kane and USS Higgins, and assorted amphibious-assault ships, show the most impressive concentration of naval firepower deployed in these waters since the onset of the Iraq invasion in March 2003. Officially, this was just a training exercise, intended to demonstrate "the importance of the strike groups' ability to plan and conduct multi-task force operations as part of the U.S.'s long-standing commitment to maintaining maritime security and stability in the region." But Vice President Cheney, who observed the maneuvers from the deck of the Nimitz, made it clear that this was no routine operation: "With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike. We'll keep the sea lanes open. We'll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. ... [And] we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region."

The Stennis and Nimitz were later rotated out of the Persian Gulf, but the Bush administration continued to deploy at least one and often two carrier battle groups in the Gulf as a constant reminder of its capacity to launch air attacks against Iran at a moment's notice. These vessels have usually been accompanied, moreover, by helicopter-assault ships with the capacity to conduct hit-and-run Marine attacks on key Iranian military installations. Although these naval deployments are rarely reported in the American press, they are plainly visible to the Iranian air and naval contingents that track their every move -- and so represent a form of constant psychological pressure on the Tehran government, adding teeth to the threats issued on a regular basis by Vice President Cheney, President Bush, and other senior administration figures.

Gunboats have also been the emissaries of intimidation in the East China Sea, along a disputed maritime border between China and Japan. Citing conflicting provisions of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Beijing and Tokyo have proclaimed different offshore boundaries in this strategic maritime region. Japan insists that the common offshore border falls along the median line between the two countries; China opts for its outer continental shelf (which lies much closer to Japan than to China). Between the two competing lines, of course, lies an area claimed by both.

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Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and the author of "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy" (Metropolitan, 2008).