September was a busy month for our arch-nemesis in the Southern Hemisphere. From Western Asia to North Africa, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez was on the move, shaking hands, issuing proclamations and inking deals.First, a pact to ship commercial-ready fuel – at 20,000 barrels a day – to Iran, affording the defiant Islamic Republic a substantial cushion against tougher sanctions by the West. Next, reciprocal gestures by the Iranians, including help with detecting Venezuelan uranium deposits. (According to the Associated Press, "initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant"). On to the Caribbean tourist island of Margarita for an announcement alongside Libya's Muammar Gaddafi: Chavez appears poised to lead the rise of the global South, promising an Africa-South America development bank and a defense alliance to rival the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
And on and on.
"A new world has already emerged," the flamboyant politician told reporters trying to keep up with his whirlwind diplomacy, "and it's a new world that's marching toward multipolarity."
His allies agree.
"For African countries it's closer to visit our brothers in South America and we share the same interests of liberation and revolutionary ideals," Gaddafi, who chairs the African Union, told reporters with Bloomberg News at the second South America-Africa summit in Venezuela. "Colonialism humiliated us, insulted us and robbed us of our riches."
Now the former colonies are fighting back. And before we dismiss their aspirations as the rhetorical bombast of a megalomaniacal few, it would be wise to listen carefully to their claims. After all, these countries have been abundantly endowed with a commodity the West so desperately needs. As Venezuela's oil and energy minister has pointed out: "Africa and South America have 24 percent of the hydrocarbons in the world."
And they will use that wealth against us.
To be sure, the greatest battles over energy security will be fought in the years ahead; and the results of those struggles may well determine the fate of the developed world. As long as we remain hopelessly dependent on foreign oil – that is to say, as long as our development is tied so closely to fossil fuels – the continued growth, prosperity and leadership of the West cannot be assured. We may indeed be staring at a new world – one in which democracy is subverted by oil-rich autocrats and tyrants.
This is not a future we can accept. And it is not a possibility we can ignore. Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens is correct: The time for action and innovation is now.
