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book review #may 2025

book review, changing world order, China, international political economy

TAK-WING NGO, GLOBAL CHINA’S SHADOW EXCHANGE, 2024.       Economic globalisation supposed to be the result of countries that trade products, benefitting from their comparative advantage. According to David Ricardo, trade in goods that one country produces more efficiently than the importing country would lead to greater welfare for all. Yet this foundational idea of having entire products made in one particular country is not today’s version of globalisation, as it instead relies on myriads of supply chains. These trade relations often persist beyond the regulatory realm of states, constituting an alternative reality to the WTO-led international economy. How can we understand networks that control commodity flows worth billions of U.S. dollars; and how do actors in…

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retro review #1

energy, energy geopolitics, EU governance, international political economy, natural gas, resources, retro review, Russia

PER HöGSELIUS, RED GAS: RUSSIA AND THE ORIGINS OF EUROPEAN ENERGY DEPENDENCE, 2013.       In November 2024, more than half a century of natural gas imports of Soviet/Russian supplies to Austria came to an end. Only a few years earlier, Austria’s gas company ÖMV had concluded another long-term contract until 2040. No doubt, the gas infrastructure that facilitated the delivery of gas from Western Siberia to Central Europe should facilitate lasting political and economic relations. The pipelines were built in a joint effort involving countries that, at the time, were Cold War adversaries. Some in the West thought that initiating gas cooperation with the Soviet Union would contribute to stability in Europa, mainly because the leaders…

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article #may 2025

China, energy, energy geopolitics, environmental debates, EU governance, infrastructure, international political economy, original post, resources

A COMPLEX GLOBAL ENERGY LANDSCAPE, CHINA’S ROLE, AND EU ENERGY SECURITY       As the world’s second-largest economy, China plays an important role in global energy affairs: Its economic trajectory profoundly affects fuel markets, while state-controlled companies have emerged as indispensable players in industries that provide vital inputs for the climate-neutral, electrified economy. At the same time, China has been coping with an economic crisis for years. Dependence on a dominant supplier with growing economic problems and a legacy of disregarding environmental concerns cast doubt on the premises of the EU’s transition to climate neutrality. How do shifts in the global energy system challenge the imagination of EU energy and climate policies? The global energy system is…

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book review #1

book review, EU governance, Germany

STEFFEM MAU, UNGLEICH VEREINT: WARUM DER OSTEN ANDERS BLEIBT [UNEQUALLY UNITED: WHY THE EAST WILL REMAIN DIFFERENT], 2024.       Droves of joyful people overran the Berlin Wall in November 1989, ending the physical separation of East-Germany, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), from the much larger West-Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany. Supported by a majority in both parts of the country, reunification was negotiated and legally accomplished within only eleven months. The GDR acceded to the constitutional system of West-Germany, accepting and implementing a complex institutional setup. At that time, many thought that this was the best course of action. It guaranteed stability. Yet it also marginalised the grass-roots movement that had helped to defeat…

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article #1

China, energy geopolitics, EU governance, Germany, original post, Russia

EU ENERGY GOVERNANCE AS RISK GOVERNANCE: ADDRESSING GERMANY’S ILLUSIONS       The European Union established the Energy Union in 2015 to integrate energy and climate policies. Considering the bloc’s current geoeconomic situation as well as geopolitical challenges throughout the transition period related to choices on the path to a climate neutral economy, Germany’s positioning proves to be the weak link. Leading political actors are trying to prepare the ideational ground for a rapprochement with Russia, while the dependency on Chinese supplies to realise the energy transition is poorly  managed. How can instruments to govern the Energy Union help to address Germany’s reluctance to respond to changing international circumstances?       In recent years, the concept of…

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