Academic Scientific JournalsEnergy, Resources, and Power: Rethinking Determinism in Contemporary Geopolitics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/jpgs.2026.3.02Keywords:
geopolitics, political geography, energy security, resource dependency, geostrategy, infrastructure, energy transitionAbstract
This article examines the role of energy and natural resources as structuring factors in contemporary geopolitics and geostrategy. Building on classical geopolitical thought, it explores how material conditions have historically shaped spatial configurations of power, while remaining analytically implicit in traditional frameworks. The study develops the concept of energy-resource determinism as a heuristic approach for understanding how the access to, control over, and distribution of resources conditio state behaviour, strategic interaction, and patterns of asymmetry in the international system.
Through a conceptual and comparative analysis, the article traces the transition from geographically oriented determinism to more explicit energy- and resource-centred perspectives. Particular attention is paid to the role of infrastructure, asymmetric dependence, and energy security in shaping contemporary geostrategic dynamics. The analysis also considers how ongoing transformations, including the global energy transition and the increasing importance of critical materials, are reconfiguring the existing patterns of dependency and power.
Rather than proposing a formalised theory, the article offers a structured analytical framework that highlights the relevance of material constraints in international relations and political geography. It aims to contribute to ongoing debates on geopolitics by providing a conceptual foundation for further theoretical development and empirical research.
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