Although almost no major war has been exclusively related to the control of an oil or gas field, disputes over hydrocarbon reserves have regularly been an undeniable part of many armed conflicts. Disputes over the use of nuclear energy lie at the heart of several current confrontations that have a high potential to turn into armed conflict. The papers in this volume address the clear need to reduce international tension on energy security issues while addressing the open divides between energy-exporting and energy-importing states and hidden tensions between "developed" energy importers (North America, Europe and Japan) and "emerging" energy importers (China, India, developing Asia and Africa). This is a major (though latent) threat not to be ignored by key political and business decision-makers.