WSJ: Shale: A New Kingmaker in Energy Geopolitics

During America's Age of Imperialism, Henry Cabot Lodge famously said that "commerce follows the flag." Send over U.S. gunships, and U.S. business will be right behind.

These days it may be the reverse. America's shale oil and gas revolution—one of the biggest commercial bonanzas in generations—is itself shaking up the world order.

As oil and gas flood into U.S. pipelines, relationships that defined how energy moved around the globe are shifting. How far that will go is open to debate. A U.S. that no longer defends Saudi Arabia? A China with dominion over the Middle East?

"It's already had an impact," says Ed Morse, an energy expert at Citigroup. "In the geopolitics of energy, there are always winners and losers. The U.S. is going to win big, and someone else is going to lose big."  MORE