The frentic and almost irrational rush for energy resources has become threating to the whole world in terms of peace and the environment. This rising trend, chiefly led by China and India, can shape our future in such an unpredictable way that it leaves no room for late decisions.

The scarcity of resources needed by emerging economies to keep pace with their high growth rates is a serious challenge, which should be addressed accordingly. By no means, though, should global leaders take this issue as a scapegoat for regional armed conflicts or stand-offs between great powers that may possibily surge in the coming years.

If the lack of resources is a big deal, there must never be a lack of cooperation. Cooperation is the only tool able to build up a political environment that would ensure joint decision processes. Otherwise, small daily mistakes may actually trigger a territorial dispute, let alone a war.

But how to build cooperation and increase confidence in such delicate matters? Can diplomacy guarantee one country's energy security and not put its own strategic goals at risk? What role should military cooperation play? How to succeed when cold relations between certain countries seem to follow stubborn patterns? How not to give up on moral values and keep grabbing onto great economic, yet politically incorrect, opportunities? In which way should the world´s greatest democracy deal with its´neighbours? How to engage, for instance, Myanmar, a country led by a military junta that has been condemned by several human rights watch-dogs but that still holds control of one of the biggest gas reserves in the world? Which cards are available for India to play? Which ones are already ruled out? Is spicy pragmatism worth trying?