MAGAZINE
2022
THE STATE OF ENERGY SECURITY :
MOVEMENT FORWARD IN THE LAND DOMAIN
By Alexander LANDRY , CAN Army CPT , LANDCOM GENG , & Liam PATRICK , Political Sciences student at the University of Manitoba
INTRODUCTION
NATO leaders agree on the Climate and Security Action Plan at the 2021 Brussels Summit .
As the hundredth day of the war in Ukraine has now come and gone , the original tensions that had been latent since 2014 with the occupation of various Ukrainian territories by Russian-backed separatist groups have now heightened . The Russian Federation ’ s outright invasion of another sovereign nation has plunged Europe back into a state of war on a scale arguably not seen since the Second World War . Moreover , this has brought certain geopolitical issues to the forefront , beyond the issues of tensions between NATO and the Russian Federation itself .
With the world slowly emerging from the now endemic effects of COVID-19 , NATO nations and partner nations have all dealt with a variety of internal and external challenges , including but not limited to items such as rising inflation rates , food shortages , and specifically energy security issues . To this effect , these challenges have only been exacerbated by such tensions , growing steadily as the war in Ukraine continues . As such , it is unquestionable that , although the current geopolitical situation may resemble many decades ago , the Alliance certainly faces issues that vary greatly from yesteryear .
Amongst these challenges , one specific topic lies at the crux of the issue for the EU , NATO , and many other stakeholders at the political level moving forward . This is also one topic deeply entangled in the issues surrounding current NATO- Russia tensions as a result of the February invasion . To the point , this is that topic of energy security . As open conflict now rages in Eastern Europe , energy supply issues already identified only gain importance concerning the Alliance ’ s own energy capabilities and member nations ’ reliance on natural gas .
Accordingly , as the Alliance is broad in its approach to the overall topic of energy security , underlining goals for the enterprise , specific tasks for its command structure , and mechanisms to be developed to monitor overall progress , this paper will analyze the specific issues of the underlying energy security crisis . Both within the scope of ramifications within the EU and the crisis ’ s effects on the current developing situation in Eastern Europe , an outline of the state of energy security will be presented , with subsequent strategies moving forward within the Land Domain that NATO can adopt in moving towards energy sustainability and consequential dominance of its adversaries .
1 . - North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ), “ NATO Climate Change and Security Action Plan ”, 14 June 2021 , accessed 25 January 2022 , https :// www . nato . int / cps / en / natohq / official _ texts _ 185174 . htm .
2 . - EuroStat , “ Where does our energy come from ”, 2019 , accessed 01 February 2022 , https :// ec . europa . eu / eurostat / cache / infographs / energy / bloc-2a . html #:~: text = In % 202019 % 2C % 20the % 20energy % 20 mix , fossil % 20fuels % 20 ( both % 2013 % 20 % 25 ).
3 . - A . Jaffe , “ Can the US find enough natural gas sources to neutralize Russia ’ s energy leverage over Europe ?”,
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The Conversation , 31 January 2022 , accessed 02 February 2022 , https :// theconversation . com / can-theus-find-enough-natural-gas-sources-to-neutralize-russias-energy-leverage-over-europe-175824 .
4 . - EuroStat , “ Where does our energy come from ”, 2019 , accessed 01 February 2022 , https :// ec . europa . eu / eurostat / cache / infographs / energy / bloc-2a . html #:~: text = In % 202019 % 2C % 20 the % 20energy % 20mix , fossil % 20fuels % 20 ( both % 2013 % 20 % 25 ).
5 . - Ibid .