The policy debate on energy security in Europe and the United States is preoccupied with the priority of securing supplies of foreign oil and gas and reducing dependence on their imports. This has led to a geostrategic “great game” as rival powers attempt to assert control over finite supplies. But recent technological developments offer new ways to improve energy security. The effectively unlimited resources of renewable energy — solar, wind, water, and biomass in North Africa, south Asia, and other strategically important areas — could provide alternative sources of energy to reduce competition for natural gas and coal (and oil, if this were accompanied by electrification of transport). Massive transport of electrons, rather than hydrocarbon molecules, across 21st-century supergrids could achieve the same energy security objectives with a host of other possible gains as a bonus, from economic development in sensitive regions of the world to reduced risk of climate change and increased competitiveness of renewable energy. Improved energy management in urban areas, industrial facilities as well as in the existing generation, distribution, and transportation of electricity have the potential to contribute to a sustainable energy system.

Political disagreements, the financial crisis, and the emergence of new powers have called both the economic dominance and the political relevance of the transatlantic alliance into question. Given these existing challenges and expected longerterm shifts in economic power, there has been much debate about how the transatlantic alliance can best ensure the future longevity of a Western-led international economic system. The conventional wisdom is that socializing rising powers into existing international norms and institutions will be the most important determinant of the stability of the existing liberal economic order. Though this approach has many benefits, in and of itself, this strategy is fundamentally incomplete. In order to cement its central position in the global economy, the alliance needs to draw on its tradition of institutional innovation to strengthen transatlantic competitiveness and define the economic rules of the game for the 21st century.

The remarkable global growth story of the past two decades is already beginning to manifest itself geopolitically. The arrival of new global powers presents the West with a dilemma: whether to prioritize players or principles in creating a new international architecture that contributes to the continuity and efficacy of international norms. If the West fails to do either, there is every likelihood that a competing global system may emerge with ruinous consequences for all. Truly empowering new players will require sacrificing privileges, reaffirming principles, consolidating space, and privileging and engaging emerging democracies