Managing Energy Insecurities in East Asia: Natural Resource Development and Sea-Lane Security

Abstract

This paper looks at regional cooperation to manage energy scarcity, in particular efforts to develop unexplored fossil fuels such as oil and gas in the East China and South China Seas as well as efforts to secure the safety of sea lines of Communication (SLOCs). In both areas, the main barrier to cooperation is the states strong adherence to norms of sovereignty and domestic non-interference. At the same time, however, the paper finds that these Westphalian norms are not surmountable. In a comparative case study of Japanese-Russian and Japanese-Chinese energy cooperation in which both bilateral relations are plagued by territorial disputes, the former has made much more progress than the latter case. Strong leadership and dramatic improvement in political relations were significant factors that promoted Japanese-Russian energy cooperation.