For the past 30 years, energy policy has been the foremost issue in American domestic and foreign policy. The tremendous economic impact of energy supply and demand is seen quite clearly at gas pumps across the nation. More recently, national security implications have come to the spotlight over concerns about being so dependent on oil producers who are not American allies. The question of “who owns what” will undoubtedly be a hot button issue as Western nations attempt to become self sufficient in their energy policies. The ambiguous answers to that question will be of prime importance in years to come. Western nation’s willingness to flout accepted boundaries and to buck international statutes may very well be the defining struggle of the 21st century.