Energy and Security

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor

This seminar introduces the national security implications of energy systems. We will consider several questions of contemporary policy relevance. How have governments pursued energy security? What are the geopolitical and climate risks associated with energy development? Why are energy and national security connected? And how have changes in the energy sector altered security risks? By the end of the seminar we will have learned about the specific energy challenges and the national and international strategies developed to meet those challenges. Topics will include oil, natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear power, wholesale electricity, the resource curse, cyber security, and international energy markets. We will cover the relationships between technology and energy, environment and energy, international relations and energy, domestic politics and fossil fuels, and oil and national security. Sessions will focus on questions relating material from different parts of the seminar to provide continuity from one week to the next.