The publication of Natural Gas and Geopolitics: From 1970 to 2040 could not be timelier. The sharp rise of oil and gas prices that began in 2003 has returned energy to the top of the US public policy agenda. We have been reminded, yet again, of the centrality of energy to our and the world's economic well-being. Discussion has now turned to the domestic policies and international initiatives that can help ensure a stable, reasonably priced supply of energy to global markets through the middle of the twenty-first century and beyond.

One thing is certain: natural gas will play a critical role in meeting the world's energy needs. A series of important economic, political, and technological factors – the growing global demand for energy, the ongoing deregulation of gas and electrical markets, a preference for gas as the cleanest of the hydrocarbons, and declines in the cost of producing and transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) – have laid the groundwork for an expanded role for natural gas in the world economy.

But there are a host of obstacles to seizing the full potential of natural gas. While increased trade in LNG opens up the possibility of a truly global market for gas, the pace and ultimate scope of this historic development remains very much in doubt. The shift from governments to the private sector as lead players in major pipeline and LNG projects, though welcome, raises important questions of investor confidence, regulatory environment, political risk, and competition from other hydrocarbon fuels and renewable energy sources.