Powering National Security: Energy Policy in the US and Beyond

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Nations pursue access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy that will sustain their national security objectives. While the China-Russia led alliance continues to rely largely on fossil fuels, Western countries increasingly seek to replace these traditional energy sources with renewable offerings, leading to less reliable and more expensive electricity. This has profound national security implications.

International organizations such as the United Nations and the International Energy Agency promote the existence of an “energy transition” to renewable energy, despite no signs that a transition is imminent. This is dangerous. Simultaneously, the United Nations promotes diversion of trillions of dollars from the West to China and the Global South to promote climate policies and renewable energy use.

Future energy policies based on reliable energy supplies must necessarily include a full consideration of the national security implications.

What are the potential dangers of operating and enacting energy policies based on future ideals as opposed to current realities? What is the position of the Trump administration on these matters? What is the role of the United Nations in promoting energy policies that will weaken the West?

To explore these questions and more, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts Dr. Brenda Shaffer, Senior Advisor for Energy at FDD; Michael Ratner, Energy Specialist at Congressional Research Service; and Ken Moriyasu, Washington Correspondent at Nikkei Asia. The conversation is moderated by Clifford D. May, FDD Founder and President.

Brenda Shaffer

Dr. Brenda Shaffer is a senior advisor for energy at FDD. Specializing in foreign policy and international energy, she focuses on global energy trends and policies, politics and energy in the South Caucasus and greater Caspian and Black Sea regions, Iranian natural gas exports, ethnic politics in Iran, and Eastern Mediterranean energy. Shaffer is a research faculty member at the U.S. Naval Post-Graduate School. She frequently provides research and expert counsel to international institutions, governments, energy companies, and regional security organizations. Dr. Shaffer has given testimony to several committees of the U.S. Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and to the European Parliament.

Ken Moriyasu

Ken Moriyasu is the Washington correspondent for Nikkei Asia, the English-language arm of Japanese media group Nikkei. He has been with Nikkei for over two decades, serving as a correspondent in Tokyo, Washington DC, Cairo, Beijing, Dalian, New York and Washington again. He was the last journalist to interview Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in January 2006, one day before his stroke.

Michael Ratner

Michael Ratner is a Specialist in Energy Policy at Congressional Research Service (CRS), focusing on natural gas and oil markets.  His CRS work has addressed U.S. LNG exports, U.S. natural gas demand, alternatives to Russian natural gas for Europe, and China’s use of natural gas, among other topics. Mr. Ratner has also been a featured speaker at numerous global energy forums. With over 25 years of energy experience spanning both the public and private sector, Mr. Ratner has worked in various segments of the energy industry, including investment banking, intelligence, project development, mergers & acquisitions, consulting, and journalism. In addition to his work at CRS, Mr. Ratner was an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advance International Studies (SAIS), and he received a John W. Kluge Center Fellowship in 2020/21 at the Library of Congress. Mr. Ratner was the President of the National Capital Area Chapter of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics in 2018/19. Mr. Ratner has an MS in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines, an MA in International Economics and U.S. Foreign Policy from SAIS, and a BA in International Relations from Columbia University.

Clifford D. May

Clifford D. May is the founder and president of FDD. Under his leadership, FDD has become one of the nation’s most highly regarded think tanks and a sought-after voice on a wide range of national security issues. Cliff has had a long and distinguished career in international relations, journalism, communications, and politics. A veteran news reporter, foreign correspondent and editor (at The New York Times and other publications), he has covered stories around the world, including datelines from all over the Middle East, Africa and Europe. From 2016 to 2018, Cliff served as a commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission that makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress in order to advance the pivotal right of religious freedom around the world, and integrate religious freedom into America’s foreign policy.