Module Overview
The course will introduce students to the major theoretical lenses that can be used to explain how societies design and implement public policies related to energy. The course will apply these theories to major current and historical issues in energy policy, such as the biofuels, the management of national oil companies, electric power market restructuring, climate change, and the functioning of OPEC.In a global perspective, energy policies serve multiple goals, including those of (a) meeting increasing energy demand, driven in large part by growing populations and rising incomes, (b) satisfying basic needs of about two billion people who suffer badly from inadequate access to useable energy, and (c) responding to the increasing risk of severe environmental damage caused by prevailing patterns of energy production, distribution and consumption. Moreover, energy policies are inextricably linked to geopolitical concerns about energy security and to competition in international markets and international politics.
Objectives
This course is designed to provide an understanding of how the international politics of energy is driven and shaped by the above goals and concerns, and how different actors respond to the particular challenges and dilemmas they face.