Oxygen is vital for human existence. It allows the engine of life to function as it courses through out veins and feeds our cells. Our brain, heart and other organs die within minutes of their oxygen supply being interrupted. Oxygen is needed to get work done, whether that work is pumping blood, thinking, moving, digesting food or cleansing the blood. We cannot live without it. The body ceases to function without adequate oxygen.

Similarly, civilization requires its own form of oxygen in order to exist. Without its own form of oxygen work ceases, cities crumble and people live a hand-to-mouth existence. The oxygen of civilization is energy. That energy has come in various forms over the millennia. From oxen and horses used to assist in food production and transportation, to modern equivalents of combines and high-speed aircraft, energy in its various forms has both held societies together and allowed for more complex forms of societies to develop and grow.

In an examination of modern societies in a global context, it becomes apparent that energy stresses are increasing the aggressiveness of countries, trading blocks, rebel groups and private companies. As the quest for additional energy forces these groups into contact and confrontation with one another, the question must be asked:

Why is energy confrontation just happening?

Scarcity of fossil fuel energy resources

Oil is a nonrenewable resource which is used in everything from plastics to transportation. Imagine a world without oil. How would the food get from field to market? You ready to harness the horses to go and get it? Hardly. Cars would stop. Buses would stop. The trucks moving goods across the country from ports to your local grocery store would stop. But this isn