Global Energy Politics

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label Diverse autorenew 2025-09-29, 17:01 history_edu Ioana Dinescu
Energy poses many of the defining political, economic and environmental questions of our age. On this course, you'll consider issues such as energy security, the geopolitics of energy, war for natural resources, the political economy of energy, the curse of natural resources in resource rich developing countries, and the politics of climate change.

Studying real world cases and gaining face-to-face insight from leading experts, you will gain a clear conceptual framework to support their understanding of the energy challenges of the future.Crucially, we will treat energy as a single area of concern in international relations - examining issues like climate change, geo-politics, and energy security as part of the same underlying contemporary system of energy production and consumption.

This unique approach not only offers you the bigger picture, but above all, identifies the deep connections between seemingly unrelated political issues, bridging the gap between academic theory and the logic of real-world politics with visits to an energy company and with energy analysts as well as a dynamic two-day simulation of political climate change negotiations.This course is in three parts.Week one will introduce the contemporary energy system as well as a number of major international relations approaches that can be used to study international energy politics.

Week two will examine specific international energy problems using case studies (e.g. energy importing countries and energy security, i.e. the United States).Week three will take a look at the problem and politics of climate change. The last two days of the course will be a simulation of international climate change negotiation, challenging you to apply your knowledge to a real-world problem.The course aims to bridge the gap between academic theory and the logic of real-world politics through off-campus visits to an energy company and energy analysts.

Period
01-07-2013 - 19-07-2013 (3 weeks)

Target group
This course is suited to students and/or professionals from different backgrounds with an interest in international energy politics and energy-related environmental politics. It is suitable for students from all backgrounds.

Course aim
By the end of the course you will be able to:

- Identify, understand and apply major ideas and concepts used in key theories of International Relations.



- Understand and analyse the contemporary system of global energy consumption and production.

- Use academic insights to understand and explain current energy-related problems facing individual countries and the international community as a whole.

- Work out a coherent political position based on available data and analysis of national interest, and the ability to represent and negotiate this position in a complex political environment.

Credits
7.5 ECTS credits

Many of our students get credit for the summer courses taken at Kings. You should approach your home university before applying to find out whether they accept our courses for credit. We would recommend a three-week course to be equivalent 4 US credits or 7.5 ECTS, for instance.

Course fee
GBP 1350: tuition fee only

Course leader
Sebastian Herbstreuth is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, where he also obtained an Mphil degree in International Relations. His research interests are the political economy of e

King's College London
Address: Strand, London
Postal code: WC2R 2LS
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/summerschool
E-mail: summerschool@kcl.ac.uk
Phone: +44 20 7848 1533