Research

 

The Oil Wars Myth: Petroleum and the Causes of International Conflict (Cornell University Press, 2020)


Do countries fight wars for oil? Given the resource's exceptional military and economic importance, most people assume that states will do anything to obtain it. Challenging this conventional wisdom, The Oil Wars Myth reveals that countries do not launch major conflicts to acquire petroleum resources. Emily Meierding argues that the costs of foreign invasion, territorial occupation, international retaliation, and damage to oil company relations deter even the most powerful countries from initiating "classic oil wars." Examining a century of interstate violence, she demonstrates that, at most, countries have engaged in mild sparring to advance their petroleum ambitions.

Selected Publications (click titles for access)


"Over a Barrel? Oil Busts and Petrostate Stability,” Comparative Politics (in press).


"Oil, Materiality, and Interstate War," in Oil and International Relations, Roland Dannreuther and Wojciech Ostrowski, eds. (Edward Elgar, in press).


"Understanding the Mechanisms of International Influence in an Era of Great Power Competition” (with Rachel Sigman), Journal of Global Security Studies (2021).


"Weaponizing Energy Interdependence,” in The Uses and Abuses of Weaponized Interdependence, Daniel W. Drezner, Henry Farrell, and Abraham L. Newman, eds. (Brookings, 2021).


"The Exaggerated Threat of Oil Wars,” Lawfare, August 2, 2020.


"The Oil Price Crash and International Petro-Politics,” Duck of Minerva, April 24, 2020.


"This Year’s Low Oil Prices Will Hurt These Countries the Most,” (with Jeff D. Colgan) Monkey Cage blog, Washington Post, April 6, 2020.


The Real Reason Trump Won’t Attack Iran" Foreign Policy, September 18, 2019.


How Cheap Oil Hurts Sub-Saharan Africa,” Monkey Cage blog, Washington Post, June 21, 2018.


Joint Development in the South China Sea: Exploring the Prospects of Oil and Gas Cooperation Between Rivals,” Energy Research & Social Science 24 (2017): 65–70.


Dismantling the Oil Wars Myth,” Security Studies 25:2 (2016): 258–288.


Do Countries Fight Over Oil?” in Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy, Thijs Van de Graaf, Arunabha Ghosh, Florian Kern, Michael T. Klare, and Benjamin K. Sovacool, eds. (Palgrave, 2016).


Trump’s ‘Take Iraq’s Oil’ Isn’t a New Idea. Here’s Why It Won’t Work,” Monkey Cage blog, Washington Post, September 13, 2016.


Oil Wars: Why Nations Aren’t Battling Over Resources,” Monkey Cage blog, Washington Post, May 19, 2016.


Disconnecting Climate Change from Conflict: A Methodological Proposal,” in Reframing Climate Change: Constructing an Ecological Geopolitics, Shannon O’Lear and Simon Dalby, eds. (Routledge, 2015).


Climate Change and Conflict: Avoiding Small Talk about the Weather,” International Studies Review 15:2 (2013): 185–203.