Class
|
Date
|
Topic
|
Main Questions
|
Assignment
|
UNIT 1: ENERGY AS A DETERMINANT OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND SECURITY
|
1
|
Friday
January 23
|
Shopping Day: Introduction; Overview of Course and Requirements
|
What is the “geopolitics of energy”? How has the idea of energy security evolved?
|
Two sessions will be held during the 2:40-3:55pm slot. L230
|
2
|
Monday
January 26
|
Energy as a Determinant of International Politics and Security
|
How have energy transitions transpired in the past? What is a strategic commodity? How has energy, as a strategic commodity shaped the international system in the past? To what extent has energy determined alliances, the outcomes of wars, the pace of development, and the rise and fall of empires?
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
3
|
Wednesday
January 28
|
The Global Energy Landscape: Demand, Supply, and Price
|
What are the factors influencing global energy markets and the major trends on today’s energy landscape? What factors are driving the fundamentals (demand, supply, and price)? What are the projections for demand and supply – what challenges do they portend? To what extent does supply and demand depend on geopolitical factors? What is the role of governments in moving away from oil and gas toward alternative energies today and in the future?
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
4
|
Monday
February 2
|
The Unconventional Revolution in Oil and Gas in North America
|
What accounts for the massive uptick in production of shale gas and tight oil in the United States? What are the uncertainties surrounding the trajectory of this revolution – environmental, geological, political? Through what mechanisms will this unconventional revolution affect geopolitics?
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
5
|
Wednesday
February 4
|
The Potential for the Unconventional Revolution to Go Global
|
What was the perhaps unique set of factors – beyond technology and geology – that led to the explosive growth in production in the United States? How likely is it that other countries will enjoy the same benefits from their unconventional resources?
|
Take a Position Option 1: The revolution in unconventional energy in the United States will not be replicated abroad.
|
|
Wednesday February 4 5:00-6:30 PM
|
Class Happy Hour
|
Location TBC
|
Come join your classmates, Scott, Jaffar, and me in an informal setting!
|
6
|
Monday
February 9
|
Guest Speaker
|
|
|
UNIT 2: RESOURCE REALITIES
|
7
|
Wednesday
February 11
|
POLICY MEMO
The Resource Curse
|
What are the components of the alleged “resource curse? How does the discovery and exploitation of resources affect the development of a country’s political institutions? Is the resource course inevitable? What policy advice would you give President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, or President Ollanta Humala of Peru – leaders of three countries who recently discovered potentially significant amounts of natural resources?
|
Policy Memo Option 1: What advice would you give one of the presidents of Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, or Peru about how to develop his country’s natural resources?
|
|
Monday
February 16
|
HOLIDAY:
PRESIDENT’S DAY
|
|
|
8
|
Wednesday
February 18
|
POLICY MEMO
Resource Nationalism: The Case of Latin America
|
What has given rise to national oil companies and what are the implications for their control over vast amounts of reserves? What roles do NOCs often play in the development of a country? How have some countries sought to reform their NOCs and introduce greater competition? How does the unconventional revolution in energy create new incentives or disincentives for resource nationalism and NOCs?
|
Policy Memo Option 2: What advice would you, as the energy advisor to Mexican President Pena Nieto, give your boss about successfully reforming Pemex, the Mexican national oil company?
|
9
|
Monday
February 23
|
Resource Endowments and the Nature of the State: what is the relationship between democracy and oil?
|
How does the discovery and exploitation of resources affect the development of a country’s political institutions? Will a decline in the price of oil help or hinder political reform? Have the revolutions in the Arab world told us anything about the resilience of regimes reliant on oil revenues?
|
Take a Position Option 2: There is no relationship between oil and democracy.
|
UNIT 3: ENERGY AS A MEANS OF NATIONAL POWER: Using Energy to Project Power
|
10
|
Wednesday
February 25
|
Consumer Leverage and the Use of Sanctions: The Case of Iran
|
What sort of leverage do consumers of energy have? Under what circumstances have consumer countries been able to use energy as a weapon? When are sanctions most likely to succeed? What has been the cost of sanctions on energy producing states? How are current U.S., UN, and international sanctions on Iran affecting energy interests?
|
Take a Position Option 3:
Uncont’l
revolution in oil and gas opens the possibility of the more vigorous use of sanctions.
|
11
|
Monday
March 2
|
GROUP EXERCISE
OPEC Today: How to meet the challenge of unconventional supply?
|
Students will be assigned a country to represent and an “OPEC group” of which to be part. On the day of class, you will break into your OPEC groups and seek to come up with a common assessment and strategy for dealing with the extra supply generated from the unconventional revolution, if one is needed at all.
|
Post Exercise Task: Groups should collectively submit an email to Adam before end of the day on Wednesday explaining the key elements of your approach. One page is sufficient.
|
12
|
Wednesday
March 4
|
Cartelization: OPEC and the GECF
|
To what extent does the formation of cartels produce strategic advantage to its participants? How has OPEC wielded political influence over the decades – and are the constraints on OPEC internal or external? Is OPEC still a force to be reckoned with today? Should consumer countries hope for OPEC’s collapse?
|
Take a Position Option 4: Consumers should be careful what they wish for: a collapse of OPEC would not bring the benefits commonly perceived.
|
13
|
Monday
March 9
|
Russia and Europe
|
MAYBE DO SOMETHING ON SOUTHERN CORRIDOR DECISION?
What is the energy relationship between Russia and Europe? Is European reliance on Russian natural gas a threat to European prosperity or security? If so, what has been or could be done to mitigate this threat and what is the role of diplomacy in realizing such outcomes? How, if at all, has the unconventional revolution affected the European-Russian relationship thus far? What might be the affect of it in the future?
|
Policy Memo Option 3: Write a memo to President Putin or Gazprom chief Alexey Miller explaining the possible implications of the unconventional revolution for Russia and how Russia might respond to them.
|
14
|
Wednesday
March 11
|
PRODUCER CASE STUDY
The Implications of Iraq’s Energy Strategy
|
How can Iraq translate its energy wealth into domestic prosperity and influence in the region? What is the energy strategy of Iraq, a strategic producer country, and what are the geopolitical implications of this strategy?
|
Policy Memo Option 4: Write to the Iraqi National Security Advisor giving him advice on how Baghdad might overcome its dispute with the Kurds over oil revenues.
|
Spring Break March16-20-2015
|
UNIT 4: ENERGY AS AN END TO FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY
STRATEGIES:
The Use of Power to Protect and Secure Energy
|
15
|
Monday
March 23
|
Guest Speaker
|
|
|
16
|
Wednesday
March 25
|
CASE EXERCISE
The Geopolitical Implications of Pakistan’s National Energy Strategy
|
Students will be assigned roles and groups representing key members of the Pakistani cabinet. They will be provided with a simple computer model, which will facilitate group discussion regarding what is the link between energy and security in Pakistan? What strategy should Pakistan adopt to address its immediate and long term energy needs? What choices does Pakistan have in seeking to address its energy challenges – and what are the various geopolitical implications of these choices?
|
Post Exercise Task: Groups should collectively submit an email to Scott and Jaffar before end of the day on Wednesday explaining the rationale behind their choices for Pakistan. One page is sufficient.
|
17
|
Monday
March 30
|
POLICY MEMO
Resource Mercantilism; China in Africa
|
What forms does energy mercantilism take? How has China sought to secure the energy it needs to develop? What are the implications of China’s strategy for Africa? For the United States? What new power alliances could or are emerging as a result of the trend toward energy mercantilism?
|
Policy Memo Option 5: Write a memo to the U.S. national security advisor on the implications of China’s quest for energy resources abroad and implications for U.S. policy. (See case prompt distributed in class.)
|
18
|
Wednesday
April 1
|
China’s Rise and Thirst for Energy: Is great power conflict inevitable?
|
What are the connections between energy and politics in China? What are the projections for growth in Chinese energy demand and how does China expect to meet these needs? What implications does this quest for energy have for Chinese foreign policy and, more specifically, how might it create friction with the United States or China’s more immediate neighbors? How might the development of China’s unconventional energy resources change this picture?
|
Take a Position Option 5: China’s rise and thirst for energy will eventually lead to international military conflict.
|
19
|
Monday
April 6
|
POLICY MEMO
The United States in the Gulf
|
What is the “true” cost of oil in the United States? Why does the United States maintain a military presence in the Gulf? How valid are claims that the 1991 and 2003 wars against Iraq were about oil? How does the fact that the United States will no longer need to import Middle Eastern oil affect U.S. foreign policy toward that region of the world?
|
Policy Memo Option 6: Write a memo to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia about whether you, his ambassador to Washington DC, believe that the United States will withdraw its forces from the Gulf in the wake of the U.S. boom in unconventional oil and gas.
|
UNIT 5: ALTERNATIVE, RENEWABLE, AND NEW ENERGY AND GEOPOLITICS
|
20
|
Wednesday
April 8
|
National Security, the Unconventional Revolution, and Climate Change
|
What are the implications of climate change for national security? What are the direct and indirect mechanisms through which climate change can affect energy security? To what extent are efforts to manage climate change and energy security complementary or in conflict?
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
21
|
Monday
April 13
|
Geopolitical Consequences of a Shift to Nuclear Power
|
What would it take to make nuclear power more viable as an alternative to fossil fuels? What would be the geopolitical repercussions if these obstacles were surmounted? Is nuclear power a viable option in the Middle East and North Africa?
|
|
22
|
Wednesday
April 15
|
Student Presentations on the Geopolitical Implications of Alternative Energies
|
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
23
|
Monday
April 20
|
CASE STUDY
Geopolitical Consequences of Wind and Solar Energy: The Case of DESERTEC
|
What is the potential for solar in solving some of the energy dilemmas of Europe and North Africa? What geopolitical issues come into play when one considers the development and export of solar-powered electricity? Are their similarities and differences than the issues associated with oil and gas? What obstacles need to be surmounted for DESERTEC to be realized?
|
Take a Position Option 6: Renewable energies such as solar and wind are subject to the same geopolitical complications as oil and gas.
|
24
|
Wednesday
April 22
|
Geo-Engineering and International Institutions
Guest Speaker: Professor David Keith
|
What happens if the world fails to meet the challenge of changing its behavior sufficiently to prevent potentially catastrophic climate change? Does science have any other options to offer? What are some of the politically complicated realities around geo-engineering? Are current international institutions well suited to managing its use?
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
25
|
Monday
April 27
|
Student Presentations on the Geopolitical Implications of Alternative Energies
|
|
Be prepared to discuss readings in class.
|
UNIT 6: CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
|
26
|
Wednesday
April 29
|
CLASS WRAP UP
|
|
Assignment for class preparation will be given in Monday’s class.
|
