RESHAPING GLOBAL ENERGY LANDSCAPES: THE GEOPOLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Abstract

The Russia-Ukraine War marks a critical inflection point in the International Political Economy (IPE) of energy, catalyzing profound disruptions in global energy markets, security architectures, and geopolitical alignments. This chapter conceptualizes the conflict as a paradigmatic case in energy geopolitics, illuminating how the war dismantled entrenched patterns of energy interdependence—most notably between Russia and Europe—and exposed the strategic vulnerabilities embedded within asymmetric dependencies. It interrogates the deliberate weaponization of Russian natural gas exports as an instrument of coercive statecraft, underscoring the entanglement of energy flows with geopolitical power dynamics under the IPE lens. The analysis traces the accelerated restructuring of global energy trade routes prompted by Europe's decoupling from Russian supplies, characterized by surging LNG demand, infrastructural overhauls, and the recalibration of supplier-consumer relationships. It further explores the emergent scramble for energy security, detailing divergent national responses, intensified renewable energy deployment, and the reconfiguration of strategic partnerships. Additionally, the chapter evaluates the macroeconomic repercussions of the conflict—including energy-driven inflation and volatility—while critically assessing the political economy of the energy transition amid crisis. Particular attention is paid to the tension between short-term fossil fuel resurgence and long-term decarbonization trajectories.Framed through the IPE constructs of power, interdependence, vulnerability, and institutional resilience, this contribution offers a comprehensive analysis of how acute energy disruptions reconfigure the global political-economic order, yielding vital insights for future energy security strategies in an era of intensifying geopolitical turbulence.