The vulnerability of the United States to oil supply disruptions is at least as serious as the more chronic economic problems of import dependence. Measures to deal with the vulnerability problem include: increasing oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; providing incentives for private stockpiling; and developing emergency preparedness plans. This does not mean that we should delay current measures to reduce overall import dependence, such as the decontrol of oil and gas prices. But we must focus more clearly on the vulnerability problem itself as the most critical short-term energy issue for the United States and our allies. Only if we are prepared to weather oil supply disruptions in the next few years will we be able to devise longer-term solutions to our energy problems.