Michael T. Klare | The Nation

From now on, the primary focus of American military strategy will not be counterterrorism, but the containment of an economically booming China— at whatever risk or cost.

In a momentous strategic shift, President Obama has begun a military buildup in East Asia in a foolish attempt to intimidate China. It will bring blowback, and a greater risk of war.

America and oil. It’s like bacon and eggs, Batman and Robin. Now, it’s a guarantee of a trip to hell in a handbasket.

A thirty-year war for energy pre-eminence? You wouldn’t wish it on a desperate planet. But that’s where we’re headed and there’s no turning back.

How droughts, the Arab Spring and the decline of nuclear power are shaping the future of global energy consumption.

Bill McKibben is right: we no longer live on the “cozy, taken-for-granted” planet formerly known as Earth.  We inhabit a new place, already changed dramatically by the intervention of humankind.

The cost of food skyrockets as oil prices rise, triggering political unrest.

Whatever the outcome of the protests, uprisings and rebellions now sweeping the Middle East, one thing is guaranteed: the world of oil will be permanently transformed.

From crippling droughts in the Ukraine and Russia to region-shaking unrest in Tunisia, rising commodity prices and extreme weather events are already threatening global stability.

Because energy is tied to so many aspects of the global economy, and because doubts are growing about the future availability of oil and other vital fuels, the decisions China makes regarding its energy portfolio will have far-reaching consequences.