CSF 2011 | Stephen Walt: The End of the American Era

Dr. Stephen M. Walt, Harvard Kennedy School, Robert and Renee Belfer Professsor of International Affairs
Keynote Address | Current Strategy Forum | June 8, 2011

Professor Walt's profile is online at http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/facu...

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"Energy and U.S. National Security: Vulnerability and Opportunity" | June 7-8, 2011

The viability of our economy relies heavily on the continuing supply of energy resources. Increasingly, the United States' national security initiatives have been concerned with challenges and trends associated with the need for continued access to natural resources. In the naval realm, continuing debates over the legitimacy of overlapping sovereign claims to undersea resources remain a potential source of conflict.

One prominent theme of the Maritime Strategy is that the expansion of the global economic system currently underway will create increasing competition for these energy resources and may encourage nations to exert wider claims of sovereignty over greater expanses of ocean, waterways, and natural resources, potentially causing stress to the international system. Our nation's challenge will be to support a secure global maritime system that facilitates the unhindered flow of these vital energy commodities as well as ensuring access to the global commons for other economic components such as exploration and undersea infrastructure while seeking new solutions that reduce dependency on these limited resources.

This Current Strategy Forum explored:
- The critical role of energy in international security,
- The current and future impact of increasing global demands on natural resources, and
- The related vulnerabilities and opportunities for the nation and the maritime services in a more energy constrained environment.

The 62nd annual Current Strategy Forum at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. was held June 7-8, 2011. The first was held on May 9, 1949 under the title "Round Table Talks," and offered an opportunity for the nation's public servants, scholars, and senior military officers to join the College faculty and students to discuss the future strategy of the United States. Over time the forum expanded to include a cross section of America's civilian leadership to encourage a wide-ranging debate on national and international security. Each year the Secretary of the Navy hosts the Current Strategy Forum to allow an exchange of perspectives among outstanding scholars and leaders from across academia, industry, government and the military.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are the speaker's own and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or any other branch or agency of the U.S. Government.