It is not uncommon to hear states and their leaders criticized for "mixing oil and politics." The U.S.-led Iraq War was criticized as a "war for oil." When energy exporters overtly use energy as a tool to promote their foreign policy goals, Europe and the United States regularly decry the use of energy as a "weapon" rather than accept it as a standard and legitimate tool of diplomacy.

In "Energy Politics," Brenda Shaffer argues that energy and politics are intrinsically linked. Modern life from production of goods, to means of travel and entertainment, to methods of waging war is heavily...