Energy dominance as diplomatic leverage

Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics

Energy sanctions have become an increasingly central instrument of US foreign policy, enabled by the country’s transformation from an energy importer into one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics and a former senior US State Department official, told Petroleum Economist on a recent podcast. “The thesis of my work… is that energy sanctions are a growing and, mostly effective, tool of American policy, and they are made possible by American energy abundance,” McManus said. This energy abundance has allowed US policymakers to deploy sanctions against major oil-producing states such as Venezuela, Russia and Ir