Michael T. Klare

Journalist Michael Klare says we've used up what he calls the "easy oil" on Earth. What's left is "tough oil" — deep underground, far offshore or in complex geological formations. Klare details the hazards of drilling in these environmentally hazardous areas in his book, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet.

With both the cost of and demand for oil rising, nations with large energy reserves are redrawing political and military alliances, and oil-rich countries like Russia and Venezuela are enjoying greater influence. Michael Klare, author of Rising Power, Shrinking Planet, calls it the "new international energy order."

In his new book, Blood and Oil, Klare argues that the United States and other world powers are jockeying to control diminishing global oil supplies. Klare is director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst.