Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta (May 2017)
GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY AS GLOBAL PUBLIC GOOD
Abstract
The article reviews the current state of global energy security studies and proposes solutions for theoretical problems presented in those studies. For this purpose the global energy security has been defined as the state of international affairs free from crises, provoked by unilateral actions by states toward national energy security. Based on the analysis of global energy security as global public good and applying the international regimes theory, the author explores the substance of global energy security and approaches for its provision. The interdependence of countries in provision of their national energy security calls for a state of international relations on energy security issues, which prevents serious international conflicts and crises on issues of production, trade, transit, and consumption of energy and allows to avoid escalation of international competition for energy resources. Provision of global energy security is instrumental in creating of such state of international relations. Within this approach, pProvision of global energy security thus becomes a key factor contributing to provision of national energy security for a wide range of countries. In this framework, it exhibits main characteristics of a global public good that are non-rivalry and nonexcludability for members of global political and economic system. Global energy security is a final global public good, while international global energy security regimes, defined as sets of rules, procedures, and practices for resolving international conflicts and crises on national energy security issues, are intermediate global public goods. In the author’s opinion, formation of these regimes (both universal and regional) and possible ways to increase their efficiency are the most promising spheres of research in the field of energy security studies.
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