Energy, Capitalism and World Order

Governments across the world are concerned about the future of world order. This original, timely and innovative collection is the first to consider the interconnections between energy, capitalism and the future of world order from the angle of critical political economy. In its wide-ranging chapters, the authors analyze these interlocking topics from three closely associated perspectives: energy, capitalism and international theory; energy, capitalism and the making of world order; and energy and capitalism in the 21st century. The first section includes important examinations of energy and capitalism, the international trade system and the threat of peak oil to liberalism. The second offers pioneering chapters on petroleum and development in the global south, US-Canadian energy relations and the politics of transitioning to a post-carbon era in the age of climate change. Finally, the book concludes by exploring key new and worrying developments such as the revolution in biofuels, the excavation of Canadian tar sands and the rise of hydraulic fracturing.