East Asian energy dilemma over Iran

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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/NA24Dh01.html

A few months before the outbreak of the Suez Crisis in 1956, Japanese economist Wakimura Yoshitaro pointed to the transport of Middle Eastern oil as a potential flashpoint for global conflict. His assessment appears obvious in retrospect, but his policy recommendation to deal with this serious threat to economic and political stability still remains relevant.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Wakimura and several other prominent economists argued that reliance on oil increased the risk of Japan being dragged into an unwanted war. Therefore, to ensure Japanese neutrality, the best policy for Tokyo would be to develop an independent and reliable source of energy. [1] At the time, people looked to nuclear energy.

More than half a century and a meltdown later, when confidence



in nuclear power is at an all-time low and alternative sources of energy are still unready to be applied on an industrial scale, Washington's expansion of the diplomatic and economic offensive against Iran comes as an unpleasant reminder to East Asian nations of the cost of maintaining ties with the United States.

Furthermore, US President Barack Obama's imposition of US foreign policy interests in the Middle East will undoubtedly lead Seoul and Tokyo's attention to develop deeper political ties with Beijing, something Washington has been working to prevent since its strategic refocusing to the Asia-Pacific.