HCSS strategic analyst Irina Patrahau contributed an article for the latest edition of Columbia University’s Journal of International Affairs: Vol. 75, No. 2, Spring/Summer 2023, War in Ukraine: The World Responds. In her essay, Patrahau analyses the impact of the Ukraine war on the EU’s approach to energy security, taking CRM as a case study.
In Emerging from the war in Ukraine into a secure energy transition, Patrahau compares the EU’s energy supply security policies on gas with the similar absence of a strategic vision on the supply security for critical raw materials. In essence, the EU followed the same path in both instances, Patrahau argues: reliance on the market, little regard for geopolitics and only minor adjustments following various geopolitical crises (such as the cut off of Russian gas supplied to Ukraine in 2009, the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in 2014 and the rare earth disputes between China and Japan in 2011).
The EU only really acted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of last year: the war in Ukraine proved to be a very late wake-up call for many European policymakers, Patrahau continues. The European Union has now realized the need to step up its game, but is decades behind its strategic competitors, especially after years of progressive deindustrialization.
The EU must catch up with its strategic competitors and strengthen its resilience before a new supply security crisis emerges, she concludes.
Purchase the complete Journal here, or purchase access to Irina’s contribution here.
For more on Irina Patrahau’s work on pressing geo-economic and geopolitical issues induced by the energy transition, check out the HCSS Energy & Raw Materials landing page.
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