| This study argues that energy is an essential variable in the national interest. It lays out a model to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of different energy policy systems by comparing two important energy actors, the United States and the United Kingdom. The study finds that differences in domestic policymaking systems largely determine a country's capacity to establish a coherent energy policy. Those differences are systemic and largely determine the time it takes to create and implement policies, shaping approaches taken by governments to secure energy supplies, and ultimately affects the foreign and military policy choices available to them. The study further argues that national energy policies affect the relations between states at the levels of peace and war since divergent energy policies lead to either increased international cooperation or conflict, raising important questions to scholars of international relations, over the national interest, sovereignty, and competing balance of power strategies.;Comparing strengths and weaknesses within the energy policy systems of the US and UK, the study finds that the UK's unitary system of government is decidedly better at rapidly generating or changing a policy, where in the US federal system such policies take longer to form, are more contentious, but are also more likely to last. A review of the historical evolution of US and UK energy policies reveals how primary energy sources have shifted over time, sparking technological achievement, and in turn changing the energy environment, but recent developments are challenging past approaches. New players are entering the fray with statist approaches to energy sovereignty or supply security. As a result, energy has moved from a matter of low to high politics, as differences in national approaches are challenging the Westphalian state order. |
