China and the Competition for Energy Resources with panelists Dr. Robert E. Ebel, Dr. David Finkelstein and Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman.
China is the second-greatest energy consumer in the world (behind the United States), accounting for about 10.8 percent of annual global energy consumption. As China pushes its economic development forward, its energy demand has greatly increased, and is expected to continue growing at about 5% each year through the year 2020.
Dr. Robert Ebel, Dr. David Finkelstein, and Ambassador Chas. Freeman will explore how China's quest for energy resources has had an impact on the developing world, and how its competition for these resources is affecting its relationship with other countries. What are the implications of China's quest for energy security? What are possible openings for international cooperation?- World Affairs Council of Washington D.C.
Bio
Robert E. Ebel
Robert Ebel is a senior adviser in the CSIS Energy Program, where he offers views on world oil and energy issues, with particular emphasis on the former Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf. Previously, he served with the CIA for 11 years and spent over 7 years with the Office of Oil and Gas in the U.S. Department of the Interior. He also worked with the Federal Energy Office in the international energy area. Earlier, he worked for ENSERCH Corporation, which he joined as vice president in March 1974, serving for some 14 years, advising the corporation and its subsidiaries on international issues relevant to day-to-day operations.
Ebel has traveled widely in the former Soviet Union and was a member of the first U.S. oil delegation to visit the country in 1960; in 1970, he was part of the first group of Americans to inspect the new oil fields of Western Siberia. In November 1997, he led an International Energy Agency team examining the oil and gas sector of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In August 2002, Ebel participated in the Sudanese peace talks, held in Machakos, Kenya, and from December 2002 through April 2003, he worked with a group of former Iraqi oil officials, under the Department of State “Future of Iraq” project, to produce an assessment of the Iraqi oil sector.
Ebel is a past chairman of the Washington Export Council and past member of the board of American Near East Refugee Aid. He received the Department of State’s Distinguished Public Service Award in April 2002. He holds an M.A. in international relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a B.S. in petroleum geology from Texas Tech. A graduate of the USAF Russian language program, he served in Air Force intelligence during the Korean War.
David M. Finkelstein
Dr. David M. Finkelstein is the Director of Project Asia and The CNA Corporation's China Studies Center. He received his Ph.D. in Chinese history from Princeton University and studied Mandarin at Nankai University in Tianjin, China. A longtime student of Chinese and Asian affairs, he is widely published. He is a retired U.S. Army Officer with extensive experience in joint political-military assignments. Among his various political-military assignments, he served as the Director of Asian Studies, J-8, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Assistant Defense Intelligence Officer for East Asia and the Pacific.
Amb. Charles W. Freeman Jr.
Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman is former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs under President Clinton. After 30 years as a U.S. diplomat, he became the chairman of Projects International in 1995. He is also currently president of the Middle East Policy Council, co-chair of the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, vice-chair of the Atlantic Council, a trustee of the Institute for Defense Analyses - and a director of the Pacific Pension Institute. Amb. Freeman is the recipient of two Distinguished Public Service Awards, three Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, and a Distinguished Honor Award.