Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR)

Profile

Research Synopsis

I am presently completing an ESRC-funded PhD in International Relations/International Political Economy. My research investigates the political economy of EU energy governance in the Caspian, examining in particular the relationships between European institutions, member states and market actors. It documents, amongst other aspects, the gradual Europeanisation of the political support function for energy companies traditionally provided by national governments. In doing so it contributes to understandings of risk mitigation strategies employed by European (and some non-European) energy businesses and the evolving external energy role of the EU. Furthermore, it investigates these developing relations in the context of cooperation with  authoritarian states in the Caspian and analyses the risks, opportunities and integrationist stimuli presented by this complex and challenging environment.

Qualifications

• 2006 BA (Hons) International Relations with Languages with (First Class Honours)
• 2008 MA European Studies (Distinction)
• 2010 Post-graduate Diploma with in Social Research Methods (Distinction)

Related Professional Experience

• March – July 2011 - Five-month traineeship at the EU European External Action Service (EEAS) – Central Asia Division

Publications

• ‘A Common Vision of Energy Risk? Energy Securitisation and Company Perceptions of Risk in the EU?’ Journal of Contemporary European Research. (Forthcoming 2013).
• (2012). 'The Resource Curse-Resource Nationalism Nexus: Implications for Foreign Markets'. Journal of Energy Security (November 2012 Issue).
• (2012). ‘Capturing Contestation in Caspian Energy: Regime Complexity and Eurasian Energy Governance’, Political Perspectives, 6(1) 3-15.
• (2012). ‘(Re)Thinking conceptually about Energy Security: Energy Insecurity in Eurasia as Politico-Economic Structural Diversity’, Petroleum, 3 (75) June 2012, 18-28
• (2011). ‘The New EU Communication on Security of Energy Supply and International Cooperation: Familiar Strategic Objectives, New Tactical Measures’. Institut Universitari d’Estudis Europeus Barcelona - Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Policy Brief 07/2011

Conference Papers Given

• Squaring the Circle? The Resource Curse and Normative/Security Policy Agendas in the EU Periphery. Presented at  the UACES Annual Conference Passau, Germany 3-5^th September 2012
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Internal-External Legitimacy Tensions and EU Central Asian Relations. Presented at the UACES Annual Conference Passau, Germany 3-5^th September 2012
• Experts or Lobbyists? Examining Tensions in European Networks. Presented at the Centre for European and International Studies Research Flagship Conference: Towards a European Society? Transgressing Disciplinary Boundaries in European Studies Research, University of Portsmouth, 28-30 June 2012
• Beyond Geopolitics and the Market? The Structural Diversity Problem in Eurasian Energy Politics. Presented at the University of Portsmouth Postgraduate Conference, Portsmouth UK 17^th May 2012
• Capturing Contestation in Caspian Energy: Regime Complexity and EU Eurasian Energy Governance. Presented at the University of Manchester 2^nd Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Conference: Exits from the crisis; integration versus disintegration. Manchester, UK January 2012
• A Shared European Vision of Energy Governance in a Changing EU Neighbourhood? Analysing Energy Norm Preference Convergence in the Caspian Sea Region – Presented at the annual conference of the Italian Association of Political Science (SISP) – University of Palermo, Sicily September 2011

Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR) Research Clusters

• Transnational Europe
• Global Security, Governance and Identity

Discipline Areas

• EU External Relations
• EU Energy Policy
• International Political Economy
• International Relations
• Post-Soviet (Caspian and Central Asian) Studies
• Political Theory

Languages

• French – advanced
• Italian – advanced
• Russian – beginner