Energy Policy Geopolitics

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

Energy plays a critical role in a country’s economic policies, domestic development and prosperity. Yet this course moves beyond a traditional understanding of energy security as a function of supply, demand and price to provide a highly topical and policy-focused exploration of the complex global environment where geopolitics and energy security intersect. In these terms, the primary objective of the course is to examine the ways that states across the international system – primarily energy producers but also consumers – conceive of and use energy as a strategic instrument at home and abroad in the service of their national priorities in an increasingly unstable geostrategic environment where the norms that have underpinned the post-1945 international systems are being eroded. In doing so, this course will specifically examine: 1. The political economy of energy at a time of rapid technological change, profound transformation in the energy markets and a growing global climate crisis. 2. The use of energy as an instrument of foreign policy used to navigate an increasingly challenging geopolitical landscape. 3. The geopolitical opportunities and challenges faced by producers participating in the fourth energy transition and the move to renewables. 4. The threats to critical infrastructure and the global supply chain in a highly interconnected world increasingly defined by geopolitical insecurity. 5. The implications for energy security of rising geopolitical competition over critical minerals.