The global energy transition will be a game-changer for global politics. The field of energy geopolitics hence is changing fast, providing challenges, opportunities and variable outcomes for states across the world. The academic scholarship on the geopolitics of renewables has expanded exponentially over the last decade focusing on winners vs losers, conflict vs cooperation and establishing initial expectations and general propositions regarding the outcomes of the global energy transition. Cases studies, however, have been far and few, and appear in book chapters or, more rarely, journal articles. Overall, there is a dearth of academic monographs examining in depth how specific actors in the global system approach new energy geopolitics, how they are impacted by the global energy transition, and how this links with their grand strategy. This short monograph aims to fill this gap by offering an up-to-date case study of EU energy geopolitics. Grounded upon the sub-field of energy geopolitics, it produces a conceptual framework linking the global energy transition with EU grand strategy to assess how it impacts EU’s position in the global system, as well as the strategic gains, trade-offs and risks implicated. The book takes as its starting point and reviews systematically the main assumptions of the geopolitics of the global energy transition literature and the EU energy and climate policy that drives and shapes the EU energy transition. It subsequently focuses its attention on the impact of the EU energy transition on EU energy security, economic competitiveness and foreign policy/ power position and the potential it generates for more conflict or cooperation. The discussion is anchored in the different forms of power the EU operationalizes and showcases the strengths, limits and antinomies of the EU power toolbox in EU energy geopolitics. The originality, significance and contribution of this monograph lies in the cross-fertilization of fossil divestment and clean energy geopolitics, energy and climate policy, energy transition and EU as a power scholarship, with an eye to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date account of new EU energy geopolitics. In all, this monograph dissects the prospects and geopolitical implications of the new energy geopolitics, and the foreign policy ramifications engendered by the global energy transition. This book is aimed at academics and students in the areas of International Relations, International Political Economy, European Studies, Geopolitics, and Energy Politics. It aspires, moreover, to become a reference point for the scholarship in the field of energy (geo)politics. Moreover, it will be of value to think-tanks and policy-makers working in the fields of foreign, energy and climate policy.

liberalism
climare justice
China
environmental degradation
renewables
oil
EU
petrostates
global politics
global political economy
power
sovereignty
multilateralism
global energy transition
clean energy
gas
Russia
US
Saudi Arabia
separatism

• Introduction
• Historical Context of EU Energy Policy
• The EU Energy Mix and Key Resources
• Energy Dependency and Security of Supply
• Major External Energy Partners
• Geopolitical Risks and Challenges
• The Role of Russia in EU Energy Geopolitics
• EU Energy Diversification Strategies
• Renewable Energy and Strategic Autonomy
• Infrastructure and Interconnectivity
• Energy Diplomacy and External Relations
• Climate Policy and Its Geopolitical Implications
• The Impact of Global Energy Markets
• EU Legislation and Governance on Energy
• Future Trends and Strategic Outlook
• Conclusion
• References / Bibliography

Associate Professor of Global Political Economy, University of South Wales, Newport, UK

Filippos Proedrou

Book Title
EU Energy Geopolitics

Book Subtitle
Strategic Premiums, Challenges, and Dilemmas in the Global Energy Transition Era

Authors
Filippos Proedrou

Series Title
Environmental Politics and Theory

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81584-3

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan Cham

eBook Packages
Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)

Copyright Information
The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025

Hardcover ISBN
978-3-031-81583-6
Published: 31 January 2025

Softcover ISBN
978-3-031-81586-7
Due: 14 February 2026

eBook ISBN
978-3-031-81584-3
Published: 30 January 2025

Series ISSN
2731-670X

Series E-ISSN
2731-6718

Edition Number
1

Number of Pages
XV, 139

Number of Illustrations
1 b/w illustrations

Topics
Environmental Policy, European Politics, Political Science