July 30, 2025
DHAKA – In the contemporary world, energy is no longer merely a commodity; it is power, influence, and a principal driver of militarisation. As the global economy continues to rely on oil, gas, and critical minerals, states have increasingly turned to military instruments to secure energy access, protect transit routes, and assert dominance over resource-rich regions. The overlap between energy politics and militarisation has transformed oceans, deserts, and mountains into contested zones. Military force, or its threat, has become a permanent feature on the world’s energy map.
To understand this phenomenon, one must revisit Michael Klare’s enduring thesis in Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict. He contends that “the struggle to control vital resources—especially oil—is contributing to international conflict and military confrontations.” Klare’s insights have aged well. From US naval presence in the Persian Gulf to Russia’s militarised pipelines in Ukraine, energy security is increasingly enforced by arms.
Militarising maritime chokepoints
No location better illustrates the link between energy and militarisation than the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil passes, has witnessed decades of US military buildup. The American Fifth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain primarily to secure this vital oil artery. In The Prize, Daniel Yergin vividly recounts how the Carter Doctrine of 1980 declared that any attempt to control the Persian Gulf would be “repelled by any means necessary, including military force.” This wasn’t mere rhetoric. The US has since intervened in Kuwait (1991), Iraq (2003), and maintained bases in Qatar and Saudi Arabia—all under the broader umbrella of energy security.
Iran, on the other side of the strait, has responded in kind. Its Revolutionary Guard routinely conducts naval drills in the area, emphasising the strategic leverage it holds over the oil flow. The tit-for-tat buildup here isn’t about ideology, it’s about barrels of oil and geopolitical influence.
Russia: Pipelines and paratroopers
The Russian Federation offers another compelling example of energy-military synergy. In Energy Empire: Oil, Gas and Russia’s Revival, Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy explore how Moscow has fused energy assets with military capabilities to project power. When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, one of its objectives was to control transit routes that bypassed Russian territory, notably the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Similarly, the 2014 annexation of Crimea allowed Russia to solidify control over the Black Sea, a crucial zone for offshore gas development and naval logistics.
Even the war in Ukraine in 2022 cannot be separated from energy calculations. As Thane Gustafson notes in Wheel of Fortune: The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia, pipelines crossing Ukraine are not just infrastructure, they are geopolitical tools. Russia’s use of energy as a weapon is backed by tanks, missiles, and hybrid warfare. It is no accident that Gazprom’s pipelines are heavily protected and strategically placed.
China’s dual strategy
China, the world’s largest energy importer, has taken a unique path: combining infrastructure development with military expansion. Its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as Zha Daojiong notes in China’s Energy Security: Domestic and International Issues, is deeply embedded with energy motives. Pipelines from Myanmar, gas terminals in Pakistan, and refineries in Africa are all part of a grand strategy to diversify away from the vulnerable Strait of Malacca.
To guard these sprawling energy investments, China has significantly expanded its military reach. Construction of the Djibouti naval base, militarisation of artificial islands in the South China Sea, and joint military exercises in the Indian Ocean are not isolated acts—they’re rooted in energy security doctrine. As Lyle Goldstein argues in Meeting China Halfway, China’s naval expansion is tied directly to “ensuring uninterrupted energy flows from foreign suppliers.”
The South China Sea itself holds considerable potential for hydrocarbons. Though estimates vary, many believe it contains vast undersea reserves. The Chinese claim of the Nine-Dash Line is not simply a matter of national pride but an energy calculus. Each oil rig built and each naval patrol conducted is a step in the militarisation of a region dictated by energy interests.
The US shale revolution and military posture
The energy boom in the US, spurred by hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, has redefined its global military posture. As Meghan O’Sullivan notes in Windfall: How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s Power, the shale revolution allowed Washington to reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern oil and reposition its global military presence. However, energy independence did not reduce militarisation—it redirected it.
The US Navy now plays a central role in protecting global LNG shipping lanes, including routes from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe and Asia. Furthermore, as the US exports more LNG to offset Russian gas in Europe, the US military installations have become key to safeguarding terminals, pipelines, and allies’ infrastructure.
Additionally, US sanctions on oil-producing countries like Venezuela and Iran often rely on naval enforcement. The seizure of oil tankers and maritime blockades are tools of energy diplomacy executed through militarised means.
Militarisation of the Arctic: Cold War redux?
Climate change is opening new shipping routes and exposing untapped energy resources in the Arctic, prompting a new form of militarisation. In The Future History of the Arctic, Charles Emmerson outlines how melting ice caps have revealed oil and gas reserves worth trillions of dollars, attracting interest from Russia, the US, Canada, and others.
Russia, in particular, has taken an assertive approach by reopening Soviet-era military bases and conducting frequent Arctic exercises. As Emmerson notes, “Russia sees the Arctic not as an environmental preserve but as its future energy corridor.” Moscow’s Northern Fleet, equipped with nuclear-powered icebreakers, is designed to protect these emerging energy frontiers.
Meanwhile, NATO has expanded its presence in Norway and Iceland. The US recently reopened radar stations and upgraded airbases in Greenland, citing the need to monitor Russia’s Arctic ambitions.
Africa: Energy extraction and militarised presence
Africa’s vast energy reserves have drawn the attention of great powers, often accompanied by military footprints. In The Looting Machine, Tom Burgis uncovers how resource extraction, especially oil, in countries like Nigeria, Angola, and Sudan, is closely linked with violence and militarisation. Western oil companies operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta frequently require private security firms or even army protection due to unrest triggered by oil pollution and revenue inequities.
China’s growing involvement in Africa’s energy sector is also backed by military strategy. Its naval base in Djibouti and increased military cooperation with oil-rich states like Sudan and Angola are part of a broader plan to secure its energy investments. Burgis argues that this militarisation is not just about national defence but about “ensuring the free flow of resources from the continent’s rich underbelly.”
Renewables and new frontiers of militarisation
As the world pivots towards renewable energy, some argue that militarisation will decline. However, others warn of new conflicts over critical materials essential for solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries. In The Geopolitics of Renewable Energy, Daniel Scholten argues that while renewables decentralise energy production, the extraction and control of rare earth minerals will intensify global competition.
China dominates the processing of rare earths, many of which are found in geopolitically unstable regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. The US military now sees securing these minerals as a national security priority. As highlighted in the Pentagon’s 2021 National Defense Industrial Strategy, ensuring access to lithium, cobalt, and neodymium is now part of the US’s defence calculus.
Even outer space is becoming militarised to support energy objectives. Solar power satellites and lunar mining initiatives, long confined to science fiction, are now part of strategic planning in both Washington and Beijing.
Militarisation of energy politics is not an accident; it is a calculated convergence of economic imperatives and strategic doctrines. As Daniel Yergin wrote in The Quest, energy has always been “a motive for war and a means of asserting global dominance.” What has changed is the scale and sophistication of militarised energy strategies.
Today, energy infrastructure is hardened, patrolled, and defended like sovereign territory. Chokepoints are protected by fleets, pipelines are monitored by drones, and energy diplomacy is inseparable from defence alliances. From the deserts of Iraq to the depths of the Arctic, and from African ports to the contested waters of the South China Sea, militarisation of energy politics is redefining global order. In an era where climate, conflict, and competition converge, the guns behind the gas pumps are louder than ever.
Syed Raiyan Amir is senior research associate at the KRF Center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA). He can be reached at raiyancbga@gmail.com.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s own.