Event

Inception Meeting on ‘Dealing with Energy Vulnerabilities: Case Studies of Cooperation and Collaboration in East Asia’

Much literature on East Asia’s energy security has focused on the dynamics of competition over resources and how potential conflicts could arise from this. While this analytical perspective identifies potential risks and problems, it precludes the possibility that interstate cooperation is possible. Hence, going beyond the themes of competition and conflict, this project endeavours to examine interstate cooperation and collaboration in East Asia against the backdrop of continuing geopolitical uncertainties and tension. Specifically, this project aims to examine how transnational projects of energy cooperation and collaboration have taken place in East Asia, despite the emphasis on geopolitics in determining policy. It is hoped that findings obtained from this project can stimulate debates about energy policymaking and institutionalisation in the region, and add value to contemporary energy security studies in East Asia.

To mark the beginning phase of this project, an energy study group inception meeting will be held on 4 June 2010, at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. This full-day closed-door meeting gathers interested specialists in the field of energy-related policy and cooperation studies, with the goal of finalising the research roadmap for the project. Thereafter, the project will move on to its second phase whereby commissioned writers will conduct individual research over a six-month period. This will culminate in a regional energy workshop to be held in December 2010, at which the writers will present their research findings.

Click here to read the report.