Energy and Geopolitics

Energy production, use, and economics often interact to complicate geopolitics. The chart below, showing the extent to which various European countries depend on energy imports, provides a great current illustration. We say current, but this chart is already going out of date as Europe prepares to import more liquified natural gas from the US. Of course, some of these countries could produce more of their own energy resources or use (rather than shutting down) their nuclear generating stations, but that’s another story.