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Noting Americans’ concern about oil prices, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee met to discuss energy potential in the Central Asian states. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said that Central Asia is strategic to US energy security. In his submitted statement, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) said that Central Asian states would benefit by lessening their reliance on Russia and increasing trade relations with Europe and North America.

Lugar stated that finishing the East-West corridor, a pipeline that would carry oil from the Caspian Sea region to European markets, should become a priority of the transatlantic community. He advocated increasing diplomacy with Kazakhstan, supporting democratic transitions in the region, and linking energy from the Caspian Sea with Central Europe directly.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to President Carter, attended the hearing to discuss US relations with Russia. Brzezinski spoke of a long-term relationship between North America, Europe, and Russia, a relationship he characterized as “Vancouver to Vladivostok.” In this agreement, Brzezinski said that both sides would benefit; Russia would provide energy resources while Europe and North America would supply the necessary infrastructure. Brzezinski said that Russia’s desire to maintain a monopoly on Central Asia and repeatedly cutting energy to the Baltic states damage the potential of this relationship.

Brzezinski also spoke briefly on US relations with Iran. Brzezinski said that the US must recognize Iran’s energy potential, stating that Iran’s government is losing support among its modern and sophisticated youth. Brzezinski added that a military conflict with Iran would not only be extraordinarily destabilizing to the United States in the short run, but that it would also cause the US to become caught in conflict over a large region stretching from Iraq to Pakistan.