NUPI's Annual Russia Conference 2010: Russia, Europe and Energy - Rule of Power or Power of Rules?
The 2010 conference of NUPI's Department of Russian and Eurasian Studies is organized in cooperation with the RUSSCASP Programme on Energy and Power.
China, Energy Security and Central Asian Diplomacy: Bilateral and Mulitlateral Approaches
Caspian Energy Politics
Caspian Energy Politics analyses the role of oil and gas in the development of the three main petroleum exporters in the Caspian region - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - and how energy resources influence interactions with semi-authoritarian Russia and China. Due to volatile commodity prices and competition for the resources in and around the Caspian Sea, the governments of these petroleum-exporters face a series of difficult decisions. These governments have sought to balance short-term incentives to spend oil revenues as a means to maintain power against the need for a long-term strategy for managing these assets, choices which have further implications for how these countries align themselves internationally. By illuminating important linkages between domestic and international dynamics in these states, the book provides a fresh perspective on energy politics and the impact of petroleum on the development of the Caspian petroleum producers. Expert contributors from Central Asia and the South Caucasus and international scholars provide context-specific insights into the incentives affecting decision-makers that can provide a foundation for strategies to help the countries in the region overcome the negative effects of reliance on oil and gas. As such, the book will be a valuable tool for business actors seeking to understand the role of Chinese and Russian companies in the region, as well as local and international policymakers and non-governmental organisations.
Who is to Blame? Agency, Causality, Responsibility and the Role of Experts in Russian Framings of Global Climate Change
Basra Crude : The Great Game of Iraq's "Southern" Oil
Concepts like “Shiite oil” and “Kurdish oil” obfuscate the debate about Iraq’s energy resources. This paper starts from the proposition that it would be better to call a thing by its name: in terms of the size of reserves, Iraqi oil is first and foremost Basra oil. Accounting for one of the world’s greatest concentrations of petroleum wealth, almost all of Iraq’s supergiant oil fields can be found near Basra or in one of its two neighbouring governorates. The other six Shiite-majority governorates of Iraq have little or no oil, and even the most optimistic estimates of new discoveries in Kurdistan pale in comparison with the reserves of Basra and the far south. This paper examines the political implications of these geopolitical realities - with an emphasis on developments after the Samarra bombing of February 2006, intra-Shiite tensions generally, and the questions of implementing federalism south of Baghdad and adopting a new Iraqi oil law in particular.
Norsk petro-power og terrorisme: Brennbart og brukbart redskap i norsk sikkerhetspolitikk?
Rapporten analyserer følgende sikkerhetspolitiske utfordringer: 1) Norges sikkerhetspolitiske marginalisering utenfor EU og innenfor et fragmentert NATO. 2) Olje- og gassproduksjon og leveransene til Europa er en viktig enkeltstående faktor som kan gjøre Norge mer sikkerhetspolitisk relevant. Av potensielle terrormål skiller olje- og gassinstallasjoner seg ut fordi anslag ikke kun vil skade Norge, men også kan skade kjøperland. 3) På den ene siden er bekjempelse av terror og sabotasje en sikkerhetsutfordring for Norge, og på den andre siden en mulighet til å påvirke EUs forsvars- og sikkerhetspolitikk og revitalisere NATO.
Local Elites meet Foreign Corporations : The Examples of Iran and Azerbaijan
Oil companies have jumped on the bandwagon of promotion of democracy and human rights, but without sufficient expertise in local conditions. What works in one country may backfire in another. Azeri democrats want the oil industry to stop propping up the Aliev regime and talk to them instead, but for an Iranian democratic politician, support from Western oil companies is the kiss of death. However, in both countries democrats call for more transparency.