Trump's Venezuela Intervention Reveals New Energy Doctrine
Whether you label it the Monroe Doctrine, the Donroe Doctrine, or any other name, the implications of Donald Trump's decisive strike against Venezuela and the dramatic capture of its autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro are unmistakably clear. This bold action sends a powerful message that when Trump speaks about asserting control over the Western Hemisphere, including territories like Greenland, he means business. It underscores a fundamental principle that American strategic interests will take precedence over established international laws and conventions. Most significantly, it reaffirms that hydrocarbons remain critically important today and will continue to dominate the global energy landscape for decades to come.
The Enduring Power of Hydrocarbons
Despite current global oil markets being adequately supplied, Trump's perspective is firmly fixed on the long-term strategic value of petroleum resources, regardless of what European capitals might advocate. Look beyond the fact that the United States has already achieved hydrocarbon superpower status through its revolutionary fracking industry. Overlook temporarily the reality that Venezuela's dilapidated and neglected oil infrastructure would require years of intensive work and billions in investment to restore production to the levels envisioned by Trump and his advisors. This long-term view is precisely the point. Oil represents a strategic asset for the future, irrespective of the pronouncements from European governments and their deeply entrenched Green policy apparatus.
Venezuela possesses the largest proven oil reserves on the planet, and America clearly intends to secure a significant stake in these resources for the coming decades. Consider these fundamental statistics: estimates indicate that oil, coal, and natural gas collectively supplied 76.4 percent of the world's primary energy in 2024. Electricity generation from hydrocarbon sources not only failed to decline but actually continued its upward trajectory. Meanwhile, renewable solar and wind power contributed a mere six percent of global energy during the same period.
The Global Energy Reality Check
Between 2023 and 2024, the world added more energy capacity from gas-powered generation than from solar power installations, and more from coal than from wind power. Over the past quarter century, global hydrocarbon usage has expanded by fifty percent, while our overall dependence on these resources has diminished by less than one percent. However significant renewable energy and nuclear power may eventually become, the foreseeable future remains heavily reliant on substantial quantities of oil, gas, and coal. These very resources, incidentally, are essential for manufacturing critical components of Green technology, including turbine blades and solar panels.
Despite all the rhetoric about transitioning to renewable energy sources, European nations, particularly Germany, had become dangerously dependent on Russian natural gas supplies. This politically disastrous policy was driven in part by misguided Green ideology that rejected nuclear power alternatives. With Russia now largely removed from the European energy equation, Western Europe finds itself heavily reliant on expensive Liquefied Natural Gas imports from Norway, the United States, Algeria, and Qatar.
Europe's Energy Crossroads
Oil remains readily available from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern sources and can be transported directly into Western European economies through existing pipeline networks. For this potential to be realized, Europe must undergo a significant philosophical shift. First, European leaders must acknowledge that the Green energy transition cannot possibly occur overnight and certainly will not align with the unrealistic Net Zero timetables established by successive British governments. Hydrocarbons will constitute an essential component of the energy mix for the foreseeable future.
Second, European capitals must recognize that a new world order is emerging. Caught between competing demands from the United States and Russia, Europe should explore alternative energy partnerships that could provide greater autonomy, though this will require sophisticated diplomatic engagement. Specifically, Europe should look southward to the Mediterranean region and eastward toward Turkey, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and beyond, where geopolitical dynamics are evolving rapidly.
The Mediterranean Energy Game-Changer
The Mediterranean basin possesses transformative potential for European energy security. An increasingly expansionist Turkey under President Erdogan is already conducting oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, effectively in Europe's backyard. Despite historical territorial claims by Greece, these waters lie directly adjacent to the Turkish coastline. Energy realities often supersede outdated international agreements, and other nations will likely intensify their own exploration activities in this strategically important region.
Significant natural gas reserves have already been discovered off the coasts of Egypt, Israel, and Cyprus, with Lebanon and Syria also showing growing interest in exploration. Turkey has identified substantial gas deposits in the Black Sea while pursuing oil and gas ventures in Kazakhstan, Libya, and Somalia. While Western governments remain preoccupied with Green ideological dogma, the rest of the world continues working pragmatically to ensure reliable energy supplies and keep the lights on for their economies and citizens.
