Abstract

This essay reviews three recent books on the changing landscape of global energy politics in the era of climate change. Key questions that the authors investigate include: how will the renewable energy transition reshape the global balance of power? How will political-economic interdependencies and geopolitical alignments shift? Will contemporary petro-states adapt or collapse? And what new patterns of peace and conflict may emerge in a decarbonized world order? The authors provide different perspectives on the likely speed of the energy transition and its geopolitical implications. However, they occlude deeper questions about the depth of the transformations needed to prevent climate catastrophe—particularly in the nature of capitalism and military power—and the potential for more radical perspectives on energy futures. In contrast, I will argue that we should advance a critical research agenda on the global energy transition that accounts for the possibility of more far-reaching transformations in the political-economic, military, and ideological bases of world politics and highlights diverse movements fighting for their realization. These possible transformations include (1) transitions to post-growth political economies; (2) a radical shrinkage of emissions-intensive military–industrial complexes; and (3) decolonizing ideologies of “progress.” If struggles for alternative energy futures beyond the hegemony of economic growth and Western-style modernization are at the forefront of radical politics today, then these struggles deserve greater attention from critical IR scholars.

摘要

本文回顾了最近关于气候变化时代全球能源政治格局变化的三本书。作者调查的关键问题包括：可再生能源转型将如何重塑全球力量平衡？政治经济相互依赖和地缘政治联盟将如何转变？当代石油国家会适应还是崩溃？在脱碳的世界秩序中可能会出现哪些新的和平与冲突模式？作者对能源转型的可能速度及其地缘政治影响提供了不同的观点。然而，它们掩盖了关于防止气候灾难所需的变革深度的更深层次问题——特别是在资本主义和军事力量的性质方面——以及对能源未来采取更激进观点的潜力。相比之下，我认为我们应该推进一项关于全球能源转型的关键研究议程，以解释世界政治的政治经济、军事和意识形态基础发生更深远转变的可能性，并突出为实现这些转变而奋斗的各种运动。这些可能的转变包括（1）向后增长政治经济的转变；(2) 排放密集型军工联合体的急剧收缩；(3) 非殖民化“进步”意识形态。如果超越经济增长霸权和西方式现代化的替代能源未来的斗争处于当今激进政治的前沿，那么这些斗争值得批判性国际关系学者给予更多关注。