War without Oil: A Catalyst for True Transformation

Abstract : This monograph seeks to objectively explore the strategic energy leadership role the Department of Defense (DoD) can play within the context of its national defense mission and President Bush's 2006 Advanced Energy Initiative. By examining current and projected global energy/security environments, the energy roles of various branches of the Federal Government, and the unique responsibilities and characteristics of the DoD as America's largest single energy consumer and security instrument of national power, the author analyzes whether a methodology exists in which the DoD can lead an immediate, coherent, and viable long-term strategy toward a vision of replacing petroleum as its primary energy source while maintaining all necessary strategic and operational capability to guarantee U.S. security to 2050 and beyond. By envisioning and actively creating a post-petroleum military, the DoD not only guarantees the "American way of war" and national security in an increasingly energy-insecure and complex security environment, but actually obligates the organization to undertake such an endeavor as a transformational lever, catalyzing the best of government, industry, and the private sector as a positive force for a more secure world.