CALL FOR PAPERS: Journal of Regional Security Special Issue on Energy and Regional Security Dynamics (Spring 2027)
Guest Editor: Dr Nevena Šekarić Stojanović, Research Fellow, Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia; E-mail: nevena.sekaric@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs.
Over the past decades, the energy sector has undergone profound transformations. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, energy issues have increasingly entered the security sphere. The rise of emerging economies, scarcity of fossil fuels, the acceleration of energy transition and development of low-carbon technologies have all pushed energy questions high on (supra)national agendas. The merging of climate and energy debates, coupled with asymmetric energy dependences and competition over access to strategic resources has led to the securitization of energy and the adoption of extraordinary policy measures aimed at mitigating related threats.
The re-emergence of energy geopolitics and the onset of a “new energy race” for dominance in renewable technologies have underscored the strategic significance of energy resources and its production and distribution. Great powers, traditionally understood as energy powers due to either their governance performance (the EU) or resources-rich sites (USA, Russia), are evolving into “green powers”, led by China’s renewable energy-driven growth strategy and its domination over global clean-tech supply chains, which allows them to dominate or penetrate into certain regions.
As renewable technologies and decentralized energy systems gain prominence, new actors and stakeholders are reshaping the energy policy landscape. While energy security has long been associated with great powers, global energy market, or national economic development, the regional dimension often remains unexplored. This gap springs from the nature of energy resources nowadays: whereas oil largely shaped international relations during the 20th century, natural gas and renewable energy sources (RES) significantly influence contemporary international energy relations. In contrast to oil, natural gas and RES (although dispersed) are more localized, which means that their extraction, production, and distribution take place within geographically limited areas, creating thus complex dependences between countries that share common energy infrastructure. In other words, most energy systems are, by their very nature, regional (Johnson & VanDeveer, 2024). Energy infrastructure – pipelines, power plants, electricity grids, LNG terminals, ports etc. – forms the backbone of these regional systems, which can foster either cooperation or conflict, depending on pre-existing enmity-amity patterns between states within one regional formation.
Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) offers an analytical framework for understanding how securitization processes within one region are shaped by diverse security problem(s) arising from one or more security sectors (political, military, economic, societal, and environmental) (Buzan et al., 1998; Buzan and Wæver, 2003). This framework opens room for conceptualising energy security as an evolving security sector and for examining how regions are constructed around these energy-related foundations. Alongside RSCT, the concept of energy regionalism (see: Special Issue of the Review of Policy Research, 41(2), 2024) addresses the interplay between energy and regionalism by introducing a broader set of variables that can define an energy region, ranging from explicit governance arrangements to actor-centred regional constructions (Johnson & VanDeveer, 2024). This approach extends beyond strictly security practices since it recognizes the potential of other, non-state actors to influence regional security dynamic(s). Together, these conceptual frameworks enable a more comprehensive understanding of how energy and regional dynamics interact.
Against this backdrop, and building on the assumption that energy issues have become increasingly securitized (Šekarić Stojanović, 2022), which is especially visible since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this Special Issue asks how does energy problematics influence regional security dynamic(s) and vice versa? This Special Issue, thus, aims to explore the intersections between energy and regional security, encouraging both conceptual and empirical contributions that investigate regional energy complexes across the globe. It seeks to bring together insights from security studies, energy politics, and regionalism.
Suggested topics
Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Defining energy security: a distinct security sector or a cross-cutting issue with spillover effects?
- Regional energy security complexes across the globe (RSCT as a framework for analysis)
- Mapping energy regions across the globe (tackle, but are not limited to states’ security practices)
- The role of energy great powers in shaping regional security dynamic(s)
- Energy as a driver of conflict, cooperation, or integration
- Energy transition and its impact on regional security dynamics
How to apply?
Send abstracts no later than 20 January 2026 directly to Guest Editor’s e-mail (nevena.sekaric@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs). Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should clearly present the theoretical and methodological framework, as well as the rationale for the research. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by 31 January 2026. Accepted authors are expected to submit full manuscripts (up to 8000 words without bibliography) no later than 31 July 2026. The Special Issue is scheduled for publication in Spring 2027.
Key deadlines
Abstract submission – 20 January 2026
Notification of acceptance – 31 January 2026
Full paper submission – 31 July 2026
Peer reviews – 15 October 2026
Manuscript revisions and final decision – 15 January 2027
Production – 15 February 2027
Publication – March 2027
References:
Buzan, B. & Wæver, O. (2003). Regions and powers: the structure of international security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buzan, B., Wæver, O. & De Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Hancock, K. J. (2024). Introduction to the Special Issue on energy regionalism. Review of Policy Research, 41(2), 282-289.
Johnson, C. & VanDeveer, S. D. (2024). Energy Regionalisms in Theory and Practice. Review of Policy Research, 41(2), 290-309.
Šekarić Stojanović, N. (2022). Energy Security of the European Regional Security Complex: Securitization of the Russian Natural Gas and Transformation Potentials of the Complex (doctoral dissertation). Belgrade: Faculty of Security Studies University of Belgrade.
About the Journal of Regional Security (JRS)
The Journal of Regional Security is an open-access peer-reviewed journal specializing in the field of regional security studies published by the Faculty of Political Science – University of Belgrade and Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
Subject areas include security communities, regional security complexes, regional security sector reform and governance, security regimes, security integration, region-building and comparative regional security research.
Topics concerning the area of peace and conflict studies such as regional conflict complexes, regional approaches to peacebuilding, hybrid forms of peace and regional infrastructures for peace are also welcomed.
The Journal of Regional Security is currently indexed in the following bases: SCOPUS; CEEOL – Central and Eastern European Online Library; DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals; EBSCO Information Services; Hein Online; ERIH PLUS and SCIndeks – Serbian Citation Index.
Website: https://scindeks.ceon.rs/journaldetails.aspx?issn=2217-995X.
