Energy Security Challenges to Asian Countries from Japan’s Viewpoint

Abstract

When I talk to energy experts in Europe, I feel that there are major differ­ences in outlooks on energy security between European and Asian experts. The basic assumption underlying European experts’ arguments seems to be rather different. In the Atlantic market their major concern seems to be mainly with how to ensure economic and political stability within the EU in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of geopolitical risks involving the former Soviet Union, even though the geopolitical factors seem to be increasing in recent years because of the Russian government’s increasing control and involvement in the energy sector.