University of Helsinki

Fuelling the Future? Assessing Russia’s Role in Eurasia’s Energy Complex
27th-29th October 2010

CALL FOR PAPERS

Russia is an emerging energy giant. The country’s energy interests are well established in the EU, as well as gradually expanding in Asia. As a result, the policy choices made within the context of the country’s energy strategy will have profound and possibly indelible effects for industrial and individual consumers throughout Eurasia.

However, Russia is not only an exporting state. The country acts as a transit point for Central Asian hydrocarbons bound for markets in Ukraine. Its energy majors are involved in value added industries such as processing and petrochemicals. Finally, Russia is a large consumer of its own hydrocarbons, possessing one of the most energy intensive economies in the world.

With the scope of Russia’s influence growing along much of the energy value chain academics, policy makers and the private sector are left with one basic question:  to what extent (or How) will Russia impact the economic structure and political dimension of the Eurasian energy sector?

In order to address this fundamental question, the Aleksanteri Institute will be hosting the 10th Aleksanteri Conference entitled “Fuelling the Future? Assessing Russia’s Role in Eurasia’s Energy Complex ” from the 27th to 29th of October 2010 at Helsinki University.

Aims

The need for a conference dedicated to Russia's energy sector is clear judging upon the tangible and theoretical challenges facing researchers, policy makers and business alike. 
From a purely empirical perspective, it is apparent that major shifts in various political, economic and social structures dependent on Russia's increasing role in Eurasia’s energy trade are already underway.

Nevertheless, our ability to understand what these various changes imply may be hampered by our own understanding of how the energy trade itself is economically, politically and physically structured.

The conference will emphasize a multidisciplinary approach, which will greatly enrich the discussion and bring forth new interpretations of the impact Russia’s evolving energy industry will have on both the EU and Asia.

Hence, conference participation is open to a broad array of international scholars from the social and political sciences, cultural studies, the arts and humanities, law and economics. Additionally, due to the obvious economic and policy relevant components of the Conference’s theme members of the private and public sectors are also invited to contribute in the panels, and in specific roundtable discussions.

Themes

• Coordination of Interests in the Energy Sector: can’t business, institutions, and society agree?
• Energy Industry Specifics: exploring the structures that govern the hydrocarbon, electricity, and alternative industries.
• Energy Geography: the Energy Trade from regional, state and local perspectives.
• The Strategic Perspective: is there such a concept as energy security?
• Breaking Icons: New Approaches to the study of energy policy

Keynote Speakers

Mr. James Sherr, Head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) London, UK
Prof. Shinichiro Tabata, Slavic Research Centre, University of Hokkaido, Japan
Prof. Shoujun Cui, Remin National University, Beijing, China
Prof. David Dusseault, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

To be confirmed:

Prof. Jonathan Stern, Oxford Energy Institute, Oxford UK
Dr. Vanda Ignateva, Humanitarian Research Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia

Conference Schedule and Deadlines

• Proposals for panels (approx. 500 words): April 30th, 2010
• Abstracts for individual papers (approx. 300 words): April 30th, 2010
• Notification of Acceptance: June 30th, 2010
• Conference: 27th-29th October 2010

Please submit your abstract and contact information through the submission form or see Practical Information for more details.

For further assistance, please contact the Conference Coordinators at
fcree-aleksconf [at] helsinki.fi

The Aleksanteri Conference is an annual, multidisciplinary, international conference organized by the Aleksanteri Institute, Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies, affiliated with the University of Helsinki. Aleksanteri Conferences have attracted broad interest among researchers and policy-makers in a wide variety of disciplines, both in Finland and abroad, interested in the development of post-socialist countries.