Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context

The ongoing confrontation between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine has revealed another, and unprecedented, example of the politicization of global energy supply. The politicization of energy supply represents an important phenomenon in international relations, which still lack a pro...

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Main Author: Yury V. Borovsky
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2024-12-01
Series:Vestnik RUDN. International Relations
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/viewFile/43457/24547
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author Yury V. Borovsky
author_facet Yury V. Borovsky
author_sort Yury V. Borovsky
collection DOAJ
description The ongoing confrontation between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine has revealed another, and unprecedented, example of the politicization of global energy supply. The politicization of energy supply represents an important phenomenon in international relations, which still lack a proper theoretical elaboration. This article aims to comprehensively examine and typologize the main manifestations of the politicization of global energy supply both in history and in modern international relations, with a special focus on the ‘energy confrontation’ between Russia and the West, provoked by the conflict in Ukraine. Theoretically, the research is based on the existing conceptual elaboration of the term ‘politicization,’ as well as on the vision of international relations by proponents of social constructivism and political realism. It relies on the methods of historical, system and comparative analysis, as well as the method of analogy. The author concludes that the politicization of energy supply is an integral attribute of international relations in the last half century. It can be hidden or open, moderate or extreme. The extreme form of politicization of energy supply, in contrast to the moderate one, involves the use of ‘energy weapons’ for political purposes, which equates it to an energy war. Energy wars can be limited or full-scale; unilateral, bilateral or multilateral. The conflict in Ukraine has provoked an open and extreme politicization of energy supply, which took the form of a full-scale, bilateral energy war after the start of Russia’s special military operation. The United States and its allies, seeking to influence the Russian policy towards Ukraine, have used ‘energy weapons’ to the fullest, and Russia has responded in kind, albeit on a limited scale.
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spelling doaj-art-d40088f6e58c4ebeae168cf91a4ebe722025-08-20T01:50:34ZengPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)Vestnik RUDN. International Relations2313-06602313-06792024-12-01251455510.22363/2313-0660-2025-25-1-45-5521008Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary ContextYury V. Borovsky0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8855-5147MGIMO UniversityThe ongoing confrontation between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine has revealed another, and unprecedented, example of the politicization of global energy supply. The politicization of energy supply represents an important phenomenon in international relations, which still lack a proper theoretical elaboration. This article aims to comprehensively examine and typologize the main manifestations of the politicization of global energy supply both in history and in modern international relations, with a special focus on the ‘energy confrontation’ between Russia and the West, provoked by the conflict in Ukraine. Theoretically, the research is based on the existing conceptual elaboration of the term ‘politicization,’ as well as on the vision of international relations by proponents of social constructivism and political realism. It relies on the methods of historical, system and comparative analysis, as well as the method of analogy. The author concludes that the politicization of energy supply is an integral attribute of international relations in the last half century. It can be hidden or open, moderate or extreme. The extreme form of politicization of energy supply, in contrast to the moderate one, involves the use of ‘energy weapons’ for political purposes, which equates it to an energy war. Energy wars can be limited or full-scale; unilateral, bilateral or multilateral. The conflict in Ukraine has provoked an open and extreme politicization of energy supply, which took the form of a full-scale, bilateral energy war after the start of Russia’s special military operation. The United States and its allies, seeking to influence the Russian policy towards Ukraine, have used ‘energy weapons’ to the fullest, and Russia has responded in kind, albeit on a limited scale.https://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/viewFile/43457/24547energy supplyenergy weaponenergy warsanctionsconflictrussiawestusa
spellingShingle Yury V. Borovsky
Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
Vestnik RUDN. International Relations
energy supply
energy weapon
energy war
sanctions
conflict
russia
west
usa
title Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
title_full Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
title_fullStr Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
title_full_unstemmed Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
title_short Politicization of Global Energy Supply: Historical and Contemporary Context
title_sort politicization of global energy supply historical and contemporary context
topic energy supply
energy weapon
energy war
sanctions
conflict
russia
west
usa
url https://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/viewFile/43457/24547
work_keys_str_mv AT yuryvborovsky politicizationofglobalenergysupplyhistoricalandcontemporarycontext