Weaponization of energy: A geopolitical analysis of the 2022 energy crisis and the redesign of the European order
Cristina Gabriela COSMULESE
What the paper says
Type of the article: Research ArticleRussia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 transformed the European Union’s energy dependence from a latent structural vulnerability into a major geopolitical crisis, highlighting the use of energy as an instrument of strategic coercion. This paper analyzes the 2022 energy crisis as a defining moment for the EU’s security, foreign policy, and strategic autonomy. It examines how the ‘weaponization’ of energy catalyzed the European institutional response, reconfigured external energy relations, and integrated the energy transition into the core security agenda. Employing a qualitative, documentary-analytical methodology based on a comparative analysis of strategic discourse and political priorities before and after 2022, the study identifies a fundamental paradigm shift. Results demonstrate a structural realignment from a predominantly market-based, ecological framework (centered on the European Green Deal) to a securitized strategy where decarbonization is inextricably linked to energy security and strategic autonomy. Quantitatively, this shift facilitated a rapid operational decoupling: the share of Russian gas in EU consumption plummeted from approximately 40% in 2021 to under 10% by 2023, driven by a surge in LNG imports and accelerated renewable deployment. Qualitatively, it justified unprecedented institutional interventions, from emergency price caps and joint purchasing mechanisms to binding phase-out targets for Russian fuels and reframed the green transition as a central pillar of geopolitical resilience.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.