Prof. John McNeill of Georgetown University will speak in the MIT Seminar on Environmental and Agricultural History. This talk considers the links between energy regimes and political power in the international system over the past 400 years. How did the availability and use of fossil fuels affect the affairs of nations? In particular, how did peat, coal, and oil help the Dutch Republic, the British Empire, and the United States in their quests for survival and power? What might be the geopolitical implications of the next energy regime? Dr. McNeill is working on a book on the geopolitical history of fossil fuels. He is researching the international political ramifications of fossil fuels during three historical periods: peat in the Netherlands in the 17th century, coal in Great Britain in the 19th century, and oil in the United States in the 20th century. The seminar is sponsored by MIT's History Faculty and Program in Science, Technology, and Society. More about the speaker, and McNeill's website at Georgetown U.