US has squandered the strategic advantage the US has with its resurgence as a major energy power

Washington Free Beacon:
The United States has been slow to recognize how its emergence as a leading energy producer can be used as leverage to build cooperation with China and apply pressure to Russia, according to a new report.

The U.S. government could take advantage of the modern energy market to reduce tensions with China by boosting cooperation in energy trade and also deal a blow to Russia by providing increased competition in the energy sector, a panel of experts from the Center for a New American Security write in a report released this month.

“The United States is not yet well positioned to take advantage of the new energy market circumstances to advance many of its national interests,” the experts write in The New Great Game. “Unlike China and Russia, which reacted fairly quickly and are pursuing policies to counteract their energy vulnerabilities and expand resilience, U.S. leaders have been slower to grasp opportunities for advancing U.S. global leadership, balancing a tense relationship with China, and working to contain Russian foreign aggression.”

Outdated U.S. policies are preventing the United States from using its position as a major energy power to advance national security and foreign policy interests and need to be altered, the authors write.

Russia and China forged an energy relationship two years ago that was fueled in part by “cool relations” between China and the United States, the report notes.
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I think Obama has never understood the strategic significance of the US energy renaissance.  He allowed the bureaucracy to slow roll applications for exporting liquefied natural gas, which would have cut into the Russian market in Europe and helped allies.  He has opposed pipeline projects and been too much in bed with the anti energy left.  He is more doctrinaire than intelligent when it comes to energy.

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