Game change? The many faces of today's energy revolution. Part II: Geopolitical implications

Much ado has recently been made about what has been termed the "shale gas revolution": the boom in US unconventional gas production driven, in large part, by technological advances. The fortuitous developments in the energy sector have been discussed at length in the media, not only because of their promising economical prospects for a nation some had labeled as in decline, but also for its potential to bring about profound changes in the geopolitical landscape. This series of brief papers aims to be a guide to help contextualize some of the confident claims being made in the media on today's shale gas revolution, offering a variety of factors - economic, political, security-related and environmental - to take into account in order to paint a more multidimensional view of the prospects. Both positive and negative effects stemming from the energy revolution will thus be addressed. Part II of the series presents the geopolitical side of the story, examining a number of countries and regions - the USA (and its dream of energy independence), China, Russia and Europe - in detail in order to tease out the possible and plausible geopolitical shifts they could experience as a result of the current energy revolution.