The chapter delves into the intricate web of global geopolitics, focusing on the complexities of economic self-interest, climate conferences' inefficacy in reducing emissions, and the looming threats of ecological collapse and geopolitical risks. It highlights the critical issues of overshooting financial claims, potential energy-backed financial system collapse, and the dangers of escalating global conflicts leading to nuclear world wars. The discussion also covers disruptions in supply chains due to geopolitical issues, emphasizing the significant impact on global industries like oil and the challenges posed by governance and economic hardships.
Whoever controls the energy supply controls the new world order.
Russia and China are deepening their relationship, Western allies in the Middle East are joining the fossil-fuelled BRICS alliance spanning the globe, and the Wagner group is loosening Europe’s grip of Africa. The tectonic plates of geopolitics are shifting along new fault lines as rising powers focus on securing resources while the old Empire in the West pretends it can decouple economies and energy. The world is at war, but only one side is being honest about what for.
Acclaimed energy expert Art Berman says this is the culmination of millennia of human fallibility. This is a conversation that takes us from 3000 BCE and the discovery of what he calls the most disruptive technology humans ever had right up to today and the energy wars blooming around the world. We discuss our psychological disposition to immaturity, our cognitive shortcomings when examining complexity, the secrets of holy texts and even morality. Art explains how energy is reshaping geopolitical alliances, which leaders understand the reality of our situation, and why technology cannot solve our problems.
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