Undergraduate Course (Bachelor’s Level)
This course introduces students to the strategic importance of energy infrastructure in international relations and global security. It emphasises real-world incidents and offers foundational knowledge on the threats and challenges that energy systems face globally. Through case studies, students will examine sabotage, maritime security, and regional cooperation related to pipelines, power stations, and transport routes.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and describe major types of energy infrastructure and their global distribution.
- Understand threats to energy systems from natural, political, and technological causes.
- Analyse case studies to explain the causes and consequences of infrastructure disruptions.
- Explore basic policy responses and cooperative frameworks aimed at enhancing protection.
Assessment
Class Participation (25%), Case Study Report (25%), Final Essay (50%)
Structure
- Introduction to Energy Infrastructure and Global Security
- Threats to Infrastructure: Sabotage, Terrorism, Natural Disasters
- Key Maritime Routes and Chokepoints
- Pipelines as Geopolitical Tools
- Power Stations and Grid Vulnerability
- Cyber Incidents in Energy Systems
- International Responses and Cooperation
- Non-State Actors and Infrastructure Attacks
- Energy and Environmental Risks
- Case Focus – Africa’s Energy Infrastructure Challenges
- Student Policy Workshop: Response Strategies to Infrastructure Threats
Graduate Course (Master’s Level)
This graduate-level course explores the geopolitical and strategic dimensions of energy infrastructure protection. It focuses on advanced security analysis of infrastructure systems under conditions of geopolitical competition, cyber conflict, and regulatory ambiguity. Students will conduct in-depth assessments of critical cases where infrastructure security intersects with foreign policy, state rivalry, and global energy governance.
Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate how energy infrastructure shapes power projection and statecraft.
- Conduct structured assessments of infrastructure security threats across domains.
- Assess the effectiveness of legal, normative, and technical frameworks for protection.
- Design strategic recommendations for infrastructure resilience at national and international levels.
Assessment
Class Participation (25%), Case Study Report (25%), Final Essay (50%)
Structure
- Strategic Infrastructure and National Power: A Theoretical Orientation
- Mapping Global Energy Infrastructure Risk and Interdependence
- Hybrid Threats and Infrastructure Warfare
- Infrastructure Vulnerability in Armed Conflict
- Cyber-Physical Systems and Offensive Cyber Operations
- Energy Infrastructure and Maritime Security Regimes
- Institutional Architecture: NATO, G7, African Union, IEA Roles in Infrastructure Protection
- Private Sector and Security Partnerships
- Gaps in International Law and the Strategic Use of Infrastructure Norms
- Infrastructure and Geopolitical Competition in the Global South
- Simulation Exercise – National Infrastructure Security Strategy Briefing