The Energy Thread Running Through Contemporary Conflicts

Lecture at the “School of Politics” Rome, September 4 2026

My presentation examines the role of energy in the major conflicts of our time, drawing connections among the war in Ukraine, US interventions in Venezuela and Iran, China’s rise, and Europe’s industrial crisis. Russia, Iran, and Venezuela possess some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, but their production and export capacities differ considerably. What links the crises involving these countries is not a single common cause, but rather the strategic importance of their energy resources and the routes through which those resources are transported.

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