The Prologue, In The News

“According to A.Mirtchev, the current “universally securitized world worsens Hobbesian trap, according to which the choice in favour of advanced antagonistic actions is the most rational”. In such a world “it might be beneficial for one state to act against another state within an increasing number of circumstances. … So they more often use the instruments which change the rules and institutions to influence expected results and prevent supposed threats.”

Natural Gas World [11/29/22]
Andrey A. Konoplyanik
Russia, the EU, China, the Energy Price Cap and the End of A“Long Century” of Us Global Dominance

The Prologue is a thought-provoking read. Through his well-sourced and researched analysis, Mirtchev helps introduce readers to alternative energy and how it will shape global relations in the future. Whether addressing the role of energy policy and how countries can collaborate on alternative energy methods or energy will shape future national security issues, the content in this work is relevant to day-to-day policymaking. Both fossil fuels and alternative energy are here to stay, and politicians, policymakers, and practitioners are trying to understand their role in economics and national security matters. The Prologue does a great job of comprehensively explaining what kind of impact fossil fuels and alternative energy will have in the age of great power competition.

The National Interest [11/21/22]
Mark Temnycky
Will Renewables Dominate Great Power Competition?

 

“Dr. Mirtchev’s book addresses critical aspects of contemporary “security”; tracing how and when the traditional military-political sense of the term changed to include financial and ecological priorities. Mirtchev posits that for de­cades, if not centuries, energy issues have been a fundamental part of the secu­rity environment, and, as Dr. Kissinger mentioned, the book, “provides a sweeping exploration of the changing energy landscape outlining issues that will occupy scholars and policymakers for decades to come”.

The Washington Times [8/17/22]
Vladislav Inozemtsev
The Looming Energy Trap

“Mirtchev masterfully explains how a rapidly changing global technological environment coupled with the growing demand for energy is reshaping great power competition and pushing the world far beyond the confines of fossil fuel use. Mirtchev’s in-depth assessment is all the more pertinent today given that it predicted many of the shortcomings of Russian energy dependence and the efforts needed to meet the growing challenge from China, a process that has been disrupted by the need to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

The National Interest [7/11/22]
Kamran Bokhari
Green Energy? The West Must First Diversify Fossil Fuel Imports

“Dr. Alexander V. Mirtchev, in his groundbreaking The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition, elucidates on the changing landscape of energy politics. The book provides an excellent model for Israeli diplomacy. Mirtchev … argues that the vigorous pursuit of innovation and an expeditious entry into the realm of the unknown is becoming a key ingredient in the competition between global powers, resulting in energy rebalancing between actors.”

The Jerusalem Post [6/9/22]
Ariel Ben Solomon
Energy is changing Israel’s foreign policy – opinion

As Henry Kissinger put it in assessing Mirchev’s work, [The Prologue] offers a “sweeping exploration of the changing energy landscape that looks far into the future.” This is what is needed as Europe scrambles to wean itself from Russian energy after decades of dependence. 

The Hill [6/1/22]
John C. Hulsman
Our changing energy landscape will stretch beyond Europe

As we move to the new brave world of solar and wind geopolitics, described in the insightful book The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition by Prof. Alexander Mirtchev, [the installed wind power] imbalance becomes starker when one further considers Chinese territorial disputes. Solar provinces and wind corridors may become as desirable as oil and gas fields.

Forbes [5/23/22]
Ariel Cohen
China’s Wind Power Push Threatens US Strategic Interests

One of Mirtchev’s main insights is that the alternative energy megatrend is a socially-constructed phenomenon with significant geopolitical implications. Namely, energy is a geopolitical lever. Russia arrived at the conclusion that it must take advantage of its “energy superiority” before it is lost. Russia can easily be ruined as a great power and marginalized as the new energy age approaches.

La Razon [4/22/22]
Vladislav Inozemtsev
Un nuevo mundo de conflicts


“Professor Alexander Mirtchev, a Distinguished Professor of Government at George Mason University, and Vice Chairman of The Atlantic Council, has been looking at these issues of energy power politics for years. I wrote about his book, “The Prologue: the Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition” last year. He argues that renewable energy will become a commercial battleground, shifting allegiances between countries. Russia is one poster child in all this. Saudi Arabia is another: Europe has told the Saudis that they are not interested in what they are selling.”

Forbes [5/4/22]
Kenneth Rapoza
Why Russia’s Natural Gas Leverage Won’t Last Much Longer

A recent book, “The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition,” by Dr. Alexander Mirtchev describes how an alternative energy “megatrend” — a confluence of interconnected trends transforming the global zeitgeist — is revolutionizing international relations. With climate concerns, economic motives and energy security imperatives fashioning the megatrend, professor Mirtchev details a “green gold rush” as nations race to control renewable resources.

Defense News [8/9/21]
Paddy Ryan
The Green Energy Arms Race is Underway

Alexander Mirtchev’s The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition discusses the ways the renewable era might reshape the dealings of nations, creating as many opportunities for profit and cooperation as competition. Mirtchev, Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council and a Distinguished Professor at the George Mason University, cuts through the emotions.

Real Clear Energy [6/22/21]
Daniel A. Witt
Purpose and Profit: Driving The Energy Megatrend

Of special note is Alexander Mirtchev, whose solid new book (“The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition“) traces the trajectory of energy in the global economy. Mirtchev shows how each earlier era has had a transformative effect, a powerful narrative leading straight to an examination of today’s Sino-American rivalry.

Inside Sources [6/4/21]
James Clad
The Place of Materials in the Energy Crucible

Dr. Alexander Mirtchev, the Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council and Distinguished Professor at the School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, just came out with a massive, in-depth treatment of the subject, his Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition, (Simon & Schuster, 2021). He did a yeoman’s job analyzing the greatest transformations of our times.

Forbes [4/30/21]
Ariel Cohen

The Mirtchev Megatrend: A Must Read

Alexander Mirtchev, a respected member of the Washington foreign policy establishment and vice chairman of the Atlantic Council, in a new book based on a study he conducted for the Wilson Center, names this changed horizon for what it is: a megatrend. In doing this Mirtchev joins other megatrend energy spotters of the past, including environmentalist Amory Lovins and economist Daniel Yergin. Mirtchev’s book is titled “The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition.”

OilPrice.com [4/13/21]
Llewellyn King

How The Clean Energy Megatrend Impacts The World Order

 

Mirtchev’s book is a serious work by a serious scholar which pulls together the impact of alternative energy on national security, the interplay between great powers, and the changing landscape between great powers and a few lesser ones. It is wonderfully free of the idealistic tropes about alternative energy as a morally superior force.

Inside Sources [4/8/21]
Llewellyn King
Alternative Energy Hailed as a Megatrend, Disrupting World Order

 

From 2011 to 2015 the U.S. military nearly increased its renewable power generation by 100 percent while the nation’s economy added merely 2.6 percent of renewable power generation. With continued growth in renewables and further investment in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which engages in cutting edge experimental technologies, the United States could maintain a competitive advantage with its allies in NATO and the EU as well as with rivals like China who, according to Dr. Alexander V. Mirtchev, is prepared to be the world’s leading producer and consumer of alternative energy technology in the world. Mirtchev offers a variety of valuable lessons for Defense Department budget planners through his book, The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition. The book analyzes major shifts in renewable energy sources in various sectors including continued investments in alternative energy throughout the Defense Department.

National Interest [4/4/21]
James Grant
Renewable Energy In The U.S. Military: Creating A Lean Mean Green Warfighting Machine

 

@Scharschool’s@AlexanderMirtch’s book is receiving great reviews–this in@Forbes. “The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition” contextualizes the necessity of alternate energy in national security.

George Mason University, Schar School [4/2/21]

 

Dr. Alexander Mirtchev’s new book, The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition, identifies and charts the security-related trajectory of a relatively new global phenomenon: the ascent of alternative energy as a 21st century megatrend.

George Mason University, Center for Energy Science and Policy [4/1/21]
rah Wright
The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition

 

In his new book, “The Prologue: The Alternative Energy Megatrend in the Age of Great Power Competition”, Atlantic Council Vice Chairman Alexander Mirtchev defines the alternative energy megatrend as it relates to national security and using energy as leverage with other countries. He does it in the context of the new great power rivalry between the West and China, in particular. Mirtchev is also a founding member of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

Forbes [4/1/21]
Kenneth Rapoza
The Coming Disruption: The Global Alternative Energy Megatrend


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A Wilson Center Project | Release: March 2021 | © Alexander Mirtchev. All Rights Reserved.