'The Return of the Energy Weapon'

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Oct 21, 2025

Meghan O'Sullivan, a prominent expert on energy geopolitics at Harvard, delves into the resurgence of energy as a weapon. She discusses how historical events led to complacency and contrasts them with today's geopolitical tensions, such as Russia’s use of natural gas and China’s critical mineral dominance. The conversation highlights risks in energy markets, vulnerabilities from electrification, and the need for countries to adapt. Practical strategies for resilience and diversification emerge as key themes, bridging national security and environmental goals.

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INSIGHT

Complacency Masked Past Energy Risks

Global energy weaponization faded after 1973 due to market integration, diversification, and consumer coordination.
Those same trends now reverse, raising the risk that energy will return as a coercive statecraft tool.

INSIGHT

Fragmentation Makes Energy A More Useful Weapon

Economic fragmentation and great-power rivalry reduce trust in global markets and make energy a more attractive coercive lever.
States now favor stronger industrial policy and reduced reliance on integration for security.

INSIGHT

Oil Market Tightening Recreates Weaponization Risk

Tighter oil markets and renewed concentration of supply increase the conditions for weaponization.
If U.S. shale plateaus while demand stays robust, OPEC share could rise and tighten markets again.

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Energy has long been used as a weapon. The United Kingdom blocked oil exports to Germany during World War I. Hitler's fall was due in part to losing access to oilfields in the Caucasus. And the most recent example: the 1973 Arab oil embargo, which shocked the global economy.

During the following fifty years, the energy weapon largely receded from the geopolitical stage, and in many countries energy security started to feel like a given. But developments including Russia's weaponization of natural gas against Europe, China's restrictions on critical minerals, and growing trade tensions around the world have brought energy back to the center of great-power competition.

So is this a new age of energy weaponization? What would that mean for global energy security? What new vulnerabilities are emerging as the clean energy transition accelerates and electricity demand surges? And how can countries protect themselves in this new age of fragmentation and rivalry?

This week, Bill Loveless speaks with Jason Bordoff and Meghan O'Sullivan about "The Return of the Energy Weapon," a Foreign Affairs essay published today, in which they explore how, after a fifty-year period of relative stability, the use of energy as a coercive tool of statecraft is making a comeback.

Jason is the founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, where he is a professor of professional practice. He is also on the faculty of the Columbia Climate School, where he is cofounding dean emeritus. He previously served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for energy and climate change on the staff of the National Security Council.

Meghan is the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, director of the Geopolitics of Energy Projects, and director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School. She has served in multiple senior policymaking roles and has advised national security officials in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.