ABSTRACT
This chapter starts out by reminding us that, since energy systems are not merely technical, but rather socio-technical constructs, their purposes cannot be defined objectively. Different actors will always see energy systems as having different purposes. On this basis, the chapter discusses how foreign policy actors have come to define energy as having a purpose far beyond energy supply as such. We go through the different ways that energy systems can be – and have been – manipulated for foreign policy purposes. While manipulations of energy flows and energy prices are central here, the chapter also stresses that system-building processes and public discourses about energy have often been subject to similar manipulations. In addition to this, we look at the socially constructed nature of “energy weapons” while emphasizing that not only state agencies but a range of non-state actors, too, have sought to make use of energy as a foreign policy tool.
