The term “energy security” if most typically used within the context of economic, foreign and national security policy. It relates to a country’s need to diversify its energy sources to reduce its dependence on a limited number of suppliers. The recent disaster in Gulf of Mexico may be the greatest man-made disaster in history (with the possible exceptions of Bhopal and Chernobyl). It also turn out to be an important alarm bell.
Currently, Columbian drug cartels are apparently using submarines obtained from Russian organized crime groups to move cocaine as a safe way to get their product to market. According to press reports, last month the Royal Navy has begun to prepare anti-submarine operations to interdict such submarines.
Query what would happen if terrorist organizations were to obtain such submarines with the goal of destroying underwater pipelines or extorting money from governments or private companies not to attack such pipelines. What would be the appropriate response and is the West prepared for this threat?
In recent weeks, the price of British Petroleum’s stock has plummeted, the economic and human costs of the clean-up from the spill mount, oil prices will inevitably increase. All these developments provide significant funding opportunities to criminal and terrorist groups who based on their prior knowledge sold BP shares short, purchased stock in companies involved in clean-up operations, and bought oil futures.
Unfortunately, oil pipelines, like other infrastructure facilities, constitute potential attractive targets, all of which cannot be defended at reasonable cost. Compared with the narco-trade and other forms of finance, criminal and terrorist groups stand to reap significant revenues. At present, it is difficult to have an abundance of confidence in our ability to counter-act this potential threat.
After 9/11, national security planners studied the risk that airplanes might be flown into nuclear power plants. Preventive steps were taken and fortunately, no such attacks have been successful. Governments and the private energy sector should be planning for the next disaster before it is too late. What is needed are informed analysis, the training and equipping of appropriate personnel, development of reliable warning systems and action, not post hoc, finger pointing, adopting half-measures, and throwing money at problems, which has become all too common.
++ Mr. Burger has written extensively on anti-terrorism, national security, organized crime issues and will be joining the Faculty of the University of Wollongong, and its Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention.
