Reading seminar in social science: the geopolitics and geoeconomics of global energy

A calendar listing topics by week is shown below.

Lectures: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session

Discussions: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

This course focuses on strategic and political implications of ongoing trends in global energy markets, particularly markets for crude oil and natural gas.

The course will be organized in a lecture format, meeting once a week for a total of 14 class sessions. In addition, there will be a weekly discussion session lead by the teaching assistant.

Students will be expected to digest weekly reading assignments before each class session and to reflect critical engagement with the readings in their participation in each week's discussion sessions. Each student will also be required to complete two "take home" exams. The first of these will be distributed in class during Week #8 and is to be turned in during class on Week #11. The second "take home" exam will be distributed in class during Week #12 and is to be turned in during class on Week #14.

Graduate students are responsible for additional weekly readings. They will submit a term paper with topics and requirements based on three consultations with the instructor. The term paper topic must be determined by Week #7.

Deutch, John M., James R. Schlesinger, and David G. Victor. National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency: Report of an Independent Task Force. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations, 2006. ISBN: 9780876093658.

Crandall, Maureen. Energy, Economics, and Politics in the Caspian Region: Dreams and Realities. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2006. ISBN: 9780275991302.

Marcel, Valerie. Oil Titans: National Oil Companies in the Middle East. Baltimore, MD: Brookings Institution Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780815754732.

Parra, Francisco. Oil Politics: A Modern History of Petroleum. New York, NY: I.B. Tauris, 2004. ISBN: 9781860649776.

Victor, David, Amy Jaffe, and Mark Hayes, eds. Natural Gas and Geopolitics: From 1970 to 2040. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780521865036.

Weintraub, Sidney, Annette Hester, Veronica R Prado, and Luis Alberto Moreno, eds. Energy Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere: Benefits and Impediments. Washington, DC: The CSIS Press, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2007. ISBN: 9780892064885.

Additional readings are also assigned during the course of the semester.

Term Paper: 100%

For any use or distribution of these materials, please cite as follows:

Flynt Leverett and Paul Staniland, course materials for 17.906 Reading Seminar in Social Science: The Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Global Energy, Spring 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].

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