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Updating Energy Security and Environmental Policy: Energy Security Theories Revisited
National and corporate policymakers view energy security strategies through the lens of mainstream concepts and definitions offered by research and policy discourse. The central elements of the classical energy security concepts are based on the premises of sufficient and reliable supply of fossil fuels at affordable prices in centralized supply systems. However, these approaches offered by neorealism, neoliberalism, constructivism, and international political economy are outdated. They rarely take account of the latest changes in the energy industry and society. The chapter examines the classic energy security concepts and assesses to what extent changes in the energy industry are taken into consideration. This is done through integrative literature review, comparative analysis, identification of ‘international relations’ and ‘energy’ research discourse with the use of big data, and country case studies. The chapter offers suggestions for revision of energy security concepts through integration of future technology considerations, new energy sources, new actors and the interrelation among them, the specific features of the developing and least developed countries and their energy relations with the wealthy states. Moreover, the differences in International Relations and Energy researchers’ discourse of energy security are outlined together with a rationale for the interdisciplinary approach to energy security, combining the natural and social sciences ideas and tools. The findings are illustrated with case studies of energy security policymaking in selected countries.