Efforts at regional integration and cooperation among Middle Eastern states may be benefiting from Egypt's development and expansion of the Arab gas pipeline (AGP). With growing natural gas demand from states across the region, and a desire to develop downstream export markets, the AGP is examined not only as a commercial tool but also as a diplomatic bridge for regional economic and political cooperation. Mary Stonaker of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore suggests that the CNETAC regional free trade agreement is but one positive development of Middle Eastern energy diplomacy made manifest by the AGP.

For 50 years the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) has governed both India's and Pakistan's access to water from the Indus basin. The water provides Pakistan with 33% of its hydroelectric power and India a full 52% of its energy. The IWT is now being called into question by Pakistani authorities, catalyzing further disagreement in both of these nuclear states. What the sources of this dissatisfaction are, what the importance of water and energy for the development needs for both of these countries is, and how the situation is developing is the subject of the following article from Uttam Kumar Sinha at India's Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis.

Brazilian sugarcane based ethanol is well known, but its biodiesel program is less so. Led by President Luis da Silva, the country has constructed a multi-faceted biodiesel program based on a composite of vegetable oils that is dramatically reducing the country's petroleum-based diesel uptake. JES contributor Mark S. Langevin says that in spite of the country's recent discovery of significant offshore pre-salt petroleum reserves, this comprehensive biodiesel program has advantages that oil just doesn't bring along with it.    

The interdependencies between water and energy offer many positive synergies that can help achieve both energy and water security. Acclaimed author Steven Solomon argues that a paradigm shift in resource planning and management must be devised that treats water and energy as inseparable, complementary components of a linked continuum, where policy choices in one realm alter options and outcomes in the other. Solomon points out that while the global population quadrupled in the 20th century, demand for freshwater resources increased by nine-fold during the same period. In this sweeping article, Mr. Solomon provides a glimpse into the world of water ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. He outlines how countries like China and even entire regions like Central Asia are threatened by their own water scarcity, with cascading impacts on economic growth and national security.  

The European Union has long sought to engage Caspian gas producers in diversifying European gas import dependency. Caspian gas producers would like to have direct access to European markets, but the process of diversifying the European gas market has lagged due to a variety of externalities and producer concerns. This article puts forward the notion that Caspian gas producers have a comparative and therefore competitive advantage on gas diversification that draws on the contribution this gas can make to European energy security.

In spite of the fact that Russia and China share the world's longest common border and a common desire to provide energy resources (Russia) and to consume them (China), all is not what it is cracked up to be. The 'strategic relationship' may be weaker than it first appears, given China's economic ascendancy and a wobbly-outlook for Russia's future against a dramatic fall in the price of its natural gas exports. There are bright spots in bilateral energy relations however. How this energy-relationship has evolved over the past year and where it might be headed is explored in the following pages.

Historically burdened by energy supply and gas transit dependence on the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic is awakening to the new realities provided by a tangible manifestation of a common European market for energy and power. This has, however, been a painful evolution made all the more troublesome by the significant costs associated with the January 2009 gas crisis. CEE energy experts Andrej Nosko and Petr Ševce tell us where this EU and NATO Member State is headed in shoring up its own energy security future.