HKS Authors

See citation below for complete author information.

Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs

Abstract

Thanks to the boom in American unconventional oil and gas production, the United States is swapping its long-suffered vulnerability to imported energy in favor of a new strategic asset. Even if the technology behind this energy renaissance remains limited to the American space, its geopolitical consequences will go beyond American shores. U.S. adversaries and allies will be affected in different – and often unanticipated ways – given the variety of mechanisms through which American energy prowess will affect global energy markets and politics. Despite numerous uncertainties surrounding the trajectory of global energy, America’s chance to capitalize on its new energy prowess offers significant new opportunities in the geopolitical realm.

Citation

O'Sullivan, Meghan. "North American Energy Remakes the Geopolitical Landscape: Understanding and Advancing the Phenomenon." Belfer Center Discussion Paper, Harvard Kennedy School, May 2014.