David G. Victor
Capsule Review
Nov/Dec
2012
This book is built around case studies of 15 state-owned oil companies, which together account for nearly 50 percent of global oil production and for 56 percent of the world’s proven conventional oil reserves. Its aim is to evaluate the performance of these companies in the exploration, development, refinement (where relevant), and distribution of oil and gas.
Essay
May/June
2012
For too long, climate diplomacy has focused on carbon dioxide. But at least 40 percent of global warming can be blamed on shorter-lived pollutants, which also cause disease and damage crops in developing states. Reining in pollution would thus accomplish two goals, while finally getting countries such as China and India into the climate-change business.
Capsule Review
Sept/Oct
2011
According to Victor, the Kyoto Protocol’s target-based approach to climate-change negotiations is fatally flawed.
Essay
Jul/Aug
2011
Clean energy was supposed to create jobs while reducing energy insecurity, global warming, and the U.S. trade deficit. But Washington's policies have encouraged quick and easy projects that cannot compete with conventional carbon-based sources.
Essay
Jan/Feb
2010
Growing demand for energy in developing countries and calls for greener energy worldwide are putting unprecedented pressure on the global energy system. Existing energy institutions are struggling to remain relevant. A new mechanism for cooperation is needed.
Interview
This week, David G. Victor is answering questions submitted by readers about climate change and the potential role of geoengineering in counteracting the effects of global warming.
Reading List
An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on climate change.
Essay
Mar/Apr
2009
Global warming is accelerating, and although engineering the climate strikes most people as a bad idea, it is time to take it seriously.
Essay
Jul/Aug
2008
Oil stocks can help buffer economic shocks, but only if Washington radically reforms its handling of them.
Essay
Jan/Feb
2006
Sustainable development -- the notion that boosting economic growth, protecting natural resources, and ensuring social justice can be complementary goals -- has lost much appeal over the past two decades, the victim of woolly thinking and interest-group politics. The concept can be relevant again, but only if its original purpose -- helping the poor live healthier lives on their own terms -- is restored.
Essay
Mar/Apr
2003
Russia and the United States have settled on oil as the basis of a new partnership. This move is dangerous, however, because it ignores the divergent interests of the two countries and their inability to influence global oil markets. Indeed, war in Iraq could tear this partnership apart. A far better basis for U.S. - Russian ties would be the two nations' durable common interest in developing and safeguarding nuclear power.
Essay
May/Jun
2002
Supporters see the biotechnology revolution in agriculture as a Promethean step forward, whereas critics see it as the start down a slope to futuristic disaster. The supporters are right about the potential benefits of genetically engineered crops, but the critics are correct that the situation calls for government regulation. Free markets alone will not suffice to realize the new technology's promise while avoiding its pitfalls.
Capsule Review
May/Jun
2001
Essay
Nov/Dec
2000
After thousands of years of agriculture and logging, the world is losing its trees at a rate faster than it can afford. Fortunately, a Great Restoration of the forests is already under way. More-efficient farmers and foresters are helping matters, as are the growth of recycling and other advances. But more work remains to be done. The world needs a comprehensive solution to expand the effort around the globe. Herewith, the plan.
