The geopolitics of energy
Join our Washington chief JT Taylor and special guest Dr. Scott Smitson for a compelling and in-depth presentation on the impact multiple global conflicts have had on global commodities and energy. Smitson delved into where he sees new risks and opportunities in the energy and energy supply sector as well as recent maritime shipping and commerce disruptions resulting from the war in Gaza.
Part 1. Effects of Ukraine War on Global Commodities
Part 2. Energy/Commodities Impacts of Gaza War
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Dr. Scott Smitson
Dr. Scott A. Smitson is a Strategist, Global Futures Forecaster, Political Scientist, and Educator. Dr. Smitson is the Director of the Grand Strategy Program at Denison University and is a Chamberlain Fellow and Visiting Professor of Political Science at Amherst College. In his capacity as a geopolitical risk consultant, Dr. Smitson advises investors and private sector decision-makers in understanding the impact of geopolitics on the risks and opportunities in foreign markets, particularly at the interface of energy, finance, and international security. He is a retired US Army Officer, serving over twenty-one years on active duty in both combat arms and as an Army Strategist. As a Strategist, he led multi-disciplinary groups and facilitated senior leader decision-making by assessing, developing, and articulating policy, strategy, and plans at the national and international levels, all while integrating U.S. instruments of power, most especially defense, diplomacy, and development. His military career culminated in his assignment as the Strategy Branch Chief at USSOUTHCOM, where he served as the principal strategic advisor to the 4- Star Commander on matters directly impacting current operations and mid-to-long term national policy and strategy for U.S. military activity and operations across Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Dr. Smitson has also advised the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) on issues related to geostrategy and geoeconomics, and was the founding director of SOCOM's Center for Adaptative Innovative Statecraft, representing SOCOM at the 2022 NATO Summit.
In addition to a tour at the Pentagon as part of the Joint Staff, Dr. Smitson was a member of the US CENTCOM Commander’s Action Group (CAG), where he served as a Strategic Advisor for the previous CENTCOM Commander (present Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III). Dr. Smitson developed the military assurance options to Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) partners in support of the State Department-led P5+1 Iran nuclear program negotiations (JCPOA), as well as the development of the counter-ISIS strategy and military campaign plan. His operational experiences include deployments in support of Operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom, service as the UN Commander’s representative for Armistice issues in the Korean DMZ, and Company Command in 2nd Infantry Division. From 2013-2014, he was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow (CFR IAF) where he served as a US-UK Strategic Planner in the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense.
Dr. Smitson has served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy and has held adjunct professorships at Georgetown University, Florida International University (FIU), University of Miami, and with the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University.
Dr. Smitson earned a Joint PhD in Political Science and Public Policy from Indiana University’s School of Environmental and Public Affairs (SPEA) as well as a MA in Political Science. He was a Distinguished Military Graduate at the Ohio State University. His publications include The Road to Good Intentions: British Nation-Building in Aden, "An American in Her Majesty’s Ministry of Defence”, Solving America's Gray-Zone Puzzle, and The Compound Security Dilemma: Threats at the Nexus of War and Peace.
