F8TR 2000 - The Geopolitics of Climate and Resources

The course will provide theoretical foundations for analysing climate and resources through a geopolitical lens. It examines climate change and resource

constraints as forces that transform the core categories of international relations, rather than as additional policy domains. Drawing on the main schools of thought

in international relations—realism, liberal institutionalism, constructivism, as well as critical and postcolonial approaches—the course unpacks and redefines key

concepts such as power, sovereignty, security, national interest, legitimacy, and interdependence.

Attention is paid to how the climate crisis and climate action redefine power—who holds it, how it is exercised, and through which material, economic, regulatory,

and ideational instruments—as well as how they reshape the definition and defence of the national interest under conditions of long-term risk and uncertainty.

The course also explores the role of ideas, scientific knowledge, values, and norms in shaping geopolitical strategies and legitimizing policy choices.

Building on these foundations, the course then adopts geographical and thematic perspectives to examine how climate and resource geopolitics play out

in practice. It analyses the evolution of global climate and resource governance, from early multilateral negotiations to the Paris Agreement and beyond, as well as

the growing fragmentation of the international order.

Particular attention is paid to the strategies of major powers (the United States, China, and the European Union), emerging economies, and vulnerable states; to

the geopolitics of energy systems and critical minerals; to climate finance and North–South relations; and to the security implications of both the climate crisis

and climate action.

The course also examines the political consequences of climate action itself—industrial competition, trade tensions, technological races, and the strategic use

of interdependence in a decarbonizing and resource-constrained world—inviting students to critically assess the prospects for cooperation, competition, and

conflict in the decades ahead.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a solid understanding of the main theories and concepts of international relations and mobilize them to analyse climate change and

natural resources as central drivers of contemporary geopolitics.

• Analyse how the climate crisis and climate action reshape power relations and the national interest, identifying the material, economic, regulatory,

and ideational instruments through which power is exercised in a decarbonizing and resource-constrained world.

• Apply a structured analytical framework to examine the intersections between climate policy, resource management, trade, industrial strategy,

and security in a fragmented international order and an increasingly weaponized global economy.

• Critically assess the role of ideas, scientific knowledge, values, and norms in shaping geopolitical strategies, legitimizing policy choices, and

structuring cooperation and conflict around climate and resources.

• Conduct informed geopolitical analysis of concrete cases, involving major powers, emerging economies, and vulnerable states, using methods and

standards relevant to academic research. Translate theoretical and analytical insights into policy-relevant and strategic assessments, equipping students to engage with real-world decision-making inthe fields of climate, resources, and international affairs.

• Participation in class and in-class evaluations 70%
• Final exam at the end of the semester 30%

In-Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester