CONF./CFP- Russia's Role in Eurasia's Energy, Helsinki, Oct. 27-29

Posted by: Anna Salonsalmi <anna.salonsalmi@helsinki.fi>

Fueling the Future? Assessing Russia's Role in Eurasia's Energy Complex

27th-29th October 2010, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki,
Finland

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 https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/19397/lomake.html
or see Practical Information
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2010/practical.htm for
more details.

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

For further information, see
http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2010/

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.