Strategic Analyst
Irina Patrahau is the Chair of the Energy Security and Critical Minerals initiatives at HCSS. Her work examines the dynamic interplay between geopolitics, energy, and raw materials: how geopolitical tensions and strategic competition shape the security, resilience, and diversification of energy and critical raw materials supply chains in the EU, and how energy systems, resource dependencies, and control over critical materials in turn influence state behaviour, strategic positioning, and international relations. Her research also focuses on the political economy of the energy transition, including emerging clean technology markets, low-carbon supply chains, industrial resilience, critical energy infrastructure, and the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries.
Between 2024-2025, Irina was a non-resident fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, working on mineral supply chain resilience and strategies to secure supplies with the Critical Materials team.
Irina holds a BSc degree (cum laude) in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations from Leiden University and a minor in Geo-Resources for the Future at the TU Delft. She attained her MSc degree (cum laude) in Political Economy from University of Amsterdam, where she studied the energy relations between China and Eastern Europe in the context of the energy transition.
