Information
Dr Mehdi P. Amineh
EPA Programme Director
International Institute for Asian Studies
T +31 20 525 4567
m.p.amineh@uva.nl

1. China's energy security: increasing dependence on foreign oil and solutions favoured by Beijing students and researchers

Driven by a rapid increase of energy consumption, the Chinese government favours an all-out approach to energy security. Choices for particular sources of energy and technologies do not reflect much coordination, and the absence of public debate makes it difficult to understand the processes of decision-making. That goes even more for China's foreign energy policy. Reluctantly, the Chinese have become more willing to accept high levels of foreign dependency as inevitable.

2. Foreign Policy Practices and Energy Security: What drives US, EU and China's Policy towards Iran?

In this lecture Dr. Eva Rakel will discuss continuity and change of foreign policy practices of the US, the EU and China towards Iran since the Islamic revolution and the role energy security plays in this context. Further interest is in what effects improved relations between Iran and the US would have on the EU's and China's relations with Iran in general and in terms of energy security in particular.

3. Transition Management and Institutional Reform; The Case of a Transition to Hydrogen as a Motor Fuel in the Netherlands

A transition to a sustainable energy infrastructure like a hydrogen economy involves more than the development and deployment of new technologies. Institutions ensuring the proper functioning are also necessary. During this lecture, Scholten tries to answer the following question: How can governments ensure that institutional changes are aligned to technological changes in a long-term transition process?

4. China's Energy Policy towards Iran

Energy diplomacy is the new content of Chinese diplomacy in the 21st century. China will promote international energy cooperation all over the world. With the rapid growth of economy, China will import more and more oil and gas in the future. The Middle East will occupy an important position in Chinese energy diplomacy strategy, and Iran may become one of the important countries for providing energy to China.

Given the complicated situation such as Arab-Israel conflicts and Iran's nuclear issue, Chinese energy diplomacy in the Middle East may face with great challenge. For China's energy policy towards Iran, China hopes situation in the Middle East and the Gulf keep stable. Because of the UN has issued sanctions on Iran, China realizes that there will be much difficulty for Chinese companies to develop oil businesses in Iran. Still, China thinks that Iran's nuclear issue should be resolved through political ways. Considering of good political and economic cooperation, we take an optimistic views that China and Iran can develop more close cooperation in energy field in the future.

5. Energy Governance as a Multi-Level Issue: Challenges for the 21st Century 

This lecture will focus on the key challenges for energy governance in the context of the 21^st century. It deals with the multiple problems facing energy governance - i.e. the need to meet the needs of people in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. Attention will also be paid to the nature of global energy governance, regional energy governance, supranational energy governance (e.g. at the level of the European Union), and national energy governance). It argues that sustainable development calls for a comprehensive system of energy governance at global level taking into account the features of different types of energy and their environmental impacts; but the tendency of states to see energy as a national security issue tends to limit discussions of energy to national or sectoral forums. These two conflicting tendencies will be analysed and scenarios for the future of energy governance will be presented.

6. China's Energy Policy towards the Caspian Region. The Case of Kazakhstan

The Caspian region contains one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves. China's economy has developed quickly for over 20 years and needs more energy supply. Because many countries in the Caspian region are neighbours of China, they have gained the attention of the Chinese government. In this lecture, Dr. Zhao Huirong will focus on China's energy policy towards the Caspian Region and questions how China should implement this energy policy. Special attention will be paid to the case of Kazakhstan because the cooperation between China and Kazakhstan is expected to have a ‘demonstration effect’ for other countries in the Caspian region. The lecture furthermore explores the significance of this region for China’s energy security and the prospects for cooperation in light of recently heightened geopolitical competition.