Morena Skalamera
Biographic Data
| ID | 4803115 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morena Skalamera |
| GIVEN NAMES | Morena |
| FAMILY NAME | Skalamera |
| SIGNATURE | SKALAMERA M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leiden University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4806-6362 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The distributional effects of the EU’s and China’s climate diplomacy in Central Asia
This article focuses on the cases of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two economic powerhouses of Central Asia, to provide an alternative account of the distributional effects of the EU’s external climate policy, with a specific focus on the European Green Deal (EGD). By stressing both vertical state-society relations within the local realities of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and horizontal interstate power relations among states, this framework links…
The varying levels of contrasting adaptation in Central Asia’s climate change politics
Central Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. There is, however, a lack of research on how local businesses, political elites and the general public perceive the need for comprehensive greening initiatives to address its consequences. To account for the material and ideational factors influencing clean energy transition in Central Asian petrostates, I offer an alternative analytic framework that I call ‘contrasting adaptatio…
Schmierstoff der Beziehung: Russlands Energie für China. Russian Energy for China
For years, China has sought to meet its growing energy needs, diversify its fossil fuel imports, and strengthen its security of supply. Russia plays a central role in this effort. Oil has been flowing to China since 2011, gas since 2015. By selling more to China, Russia has been trying to compensate for the European markets lost due to the annexation of Crimea and the war of aggression against Ukraine. There are limits to this expansion. In energ…
Geostrategic context: Bridging alliances in the shadow of Sino-American competition
International audience
The Geopolitics of Energy after the Invasion of Ukraine
History and International Studies 1900-present
Steppe-ing’ Out of Russia’s Shadow: Russia’s Changing ‘Energy Power’ in Post-Soviet Eurasia
This essay analyses the evolving character of Russia's energy relationships in the post-Soviet space by looking at the Caucasus and Central Asia. In the past, due to the historic legacy of Russia-controlled pipelines, Moscow was able to exert influence by manipulating structural asymmetries in regional natural gas value chains. This has changed with China's entry as the region's major market alternative and the breakthroughs of the global energy …
The dual transformation in development finance: Western multilateral development banks and China in post-Soviet energy
The energy resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus have drawn significant scholarly attention due to their geopolitical importance and role in regional economic development. Western multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the EBRD, have been the leading actors shaping norms and practices for lending to the energy sectors of these regions. China has also recently emerged as the top investor in hydrocarbons and renewabl…
Circling the barrels: Kazakhstan’s regime stability in the wake of the 2014 oil bust
Most of Kazakhstan’s wealth hinges on oil rents, and the overall performance of the economy is closely linked to petroleum’s price fluctuations. This study asks (1) why the institution of private ownership of oil proceeds has not led to a positive transformation of patron–client relations embedded in the country’s energy sector, thus challenging the relevance of the ‘private ownership’ narrative, and (2) why the collapse in the price of oil did n…
Political Transition on the Great Steppe: The Case of Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successor may not have the experience or charisma necessary to ensure Kazakhstan’s continued stability
The 2020 oil price dive in a carbon-constrained era: Strategies for energy exporters in central Asia
The quick rise of commercially viable renewable energy worldwide presents encouraging opportunities for sustainable growth, but it also portends new risks. Hydrocarbon-producing nations of Eurasia have typically strongly relied on geographic proximity to their most lucrative export market: Europe. Yet the revolutionary nature of Europe's ‘Green Deal’ means that their position is under threat. While the demand-side ramifications of the global low-…
Uncovering the Domestic Factor in the Sino-Russian Energy Partnership
What explains the differences in the Sino-Russian oil and gas cooperation? Overall, I suggest, the several trajectories are explained by the dissimilarities of oil and gas as commodities and potential foreign policy tools. These differences, along with other factors, such as corporate culture and individual personalities, shed light on the strategies of Russia’s gas conglomerates, Gazprom and Rosneft. Yet, if a more nuanced understanding of varia…
The Silk Road between a Rock and a Hard Place: Russian and Chinese Competition for Central Asia’s Energy
n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n China’s displacement of Russian\neconomic influence in Central Asia is generating great interest in Western\nacademic and policy circles, but this research has, as yet, yielded few\nanalytical nuances. This article attempts to shed light on the under-researched\nquestion of what explains Central Asian governments’ failure to more effectively\ncapitalize on the growing Central-Asian rivalry between Russia, Chi…
Explaining the 2014 Sino–Russian Gas Breakthrough: The Primacy of Domestic Politics
On 21 May 2014, during a state visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing, China and Russia signed a $400 billion, 30-year gas deal. Under this agreement, China will import 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom, beginning in 2018. Why, after 15 years of stalemated negotiations, did this breakthrough occur in 2014? Why did a natural, symbiotic gas relationship not develop earlier and more gradually? Most studies explain th…
Russia’s Lasting Influence in Central Asia
Although Russia can no longer exercise hegemonic power or demand exclusive rights of engagement, it is still the preponderant regional player in Central Asia
Understanding Russia’s energy turn to China: Domestic Narratives and National Identity Priorities
This study investigates whether, as part of a broader “Asian Energy Pivot,” Russia’s energy giant Gazprom refashioned its export strategy away from Europe, and what impact such a reorientation might have on the EU–Russia gas relationship. It uses four empirical cases to emphasize the domestic movers underlying Russia’s eastward shift in energy trade, developing a constructivist theory rooted in the dynamics of Russia’s dominant public narrative a…
Revisiting the Nabucco Debacle: Myths and Realities
The Nabucco pipeline has been the largest and, arguably, the most ambitious project promoted to “wean Europe from the Russian gas stranglehold.” Both the EU and the United States were strong proponents of the plan. Meanwhile, Gazprom launched its giant South Stream project in strategic partnership with some of the most experienced European energy companies. Despite declarations by both Russia and the EU that Nabucco and South Stream were not comp…
Italy’s path to gas liberalisation: Corporate power, monopoly distortions and the Russia factor
Existing studies show that, on average, national champions in energy-rich states tend to ‘stick around’ by maintaining strong links with their respective governments in the distribution of rents. Yet the foundations of preference formation – the particular role of national champions, their relationship to their respective governments and a limited number of third suppliers in that process – have neither been theorised nor investigated empirically…
Invisible but not indivisible: Russia, the European Union, and the importance of “Hidden Governance”
The Ukraine Crisis: The Neglected Gas Factor
Explaining the 2014 Sino–Russian Gas Breakthrough: The Primacy of Domestic Politics
On 21 May 2014, during a state visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing, China and Russia signed a $400 billion, 30-year gas deal. Under this agreement, China will import 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom, beginning in 2018. Why, after 15 years of stalemated negotiations, did this breakthrough occur in 2014? Why did a natural, symbiotic gas relationship not develop earlier and more gradually? Most studies explain th…
The dual transformation in development finance: Western multilateral development banks and China in post-Soviet energy
The energy resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus have drawn significant scholarly attention due to their geopolitical importance and role in regional economic development. Western multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the EBRD, have been the leading actors shaping norms and practices for lending to the energy sectors of these regions. China has also recently emerged as the top investor in hydrocarbons and renewabl…
Understanding Russia’s energy turn to China: Domestic Narratives and National Identity Priorities
This study investigates whether, as part of a broader “Asian Energy Pivot,” Russia’s energy giant Gazprom refashioned its export strategy away from Europe, and what impact such a reorientation might have on the EU–Russia gas relationship. It uses four empirical cases to emphasize the domestic movers underlying Russia’s eastward shift in energy trade, developing a constructivist theory rooted in the dynamics of Russia’s dominant public narrative a…
The 2020 oil price dive in a carbon-constrained era: Strategies for energy exporters in central Asia
The quick rise of commercially viable renewable energy worldwide presents encouraging opportunities for sustainable growth, but it also portends new risks. Hydrocarbon-producing nations of Eurasia have typically strongly relied on geographic proximity to their most lucrative export market: Europe. Yet the revolutionary nature of Europe's ‘Green Deal’ means that their position is under threat. While the demand-side ramifications of the global low-…
Russia’s Lasting Influence in Central Asia
Although Russia can no longer exercise hegemonic power or demand exclusive rights of engagement, it is still the preponderant regional player in Central Asia
Invisible but not indivisible: Russia, the European Union, and the importance of “Hidden Governance”
Steppe-ing’ Out of Russia’s Shadow: Russia’s Changing ‘Energy Power’ in Post-Soviet Eurasia
This essay analyses the evolving character of Russia's energy relationships in the post-Soviet space by looking at the Caucasus and Central Asia. In the past, due to the historic legacy of Russia-controlled pipelines, Moscow was able to exert influence by manipulating structural asymmetries in regional natural gas value chains. This has changed with China's entry as the region's major market alternative and the breakthroughs of the global energy …
Revisiting the Nabucco Debacle: Myths and Realities
The Nabucco pipeline has been the largest and, arguably, the most ambitious project promoted to “wean Europe from the Russian gas stranglehold.” Both the EU and the United States were strong proponents of the plan. Meanwhile, Gazprom launched its giant South Stream project in strategic partnership with some of the most experienced European energy companies. Despite declarations by both Russia and the EU that Nabucco and South Stream were not comp…
The varying levels of contrasting adaptation in Central Asia’s climate change politics
Central Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. There is, however, a lack of research on how local businesses, political elites and the general public perceive the need for comprehensive greening initiatives to address its consequences. To account for the material and ideational factors influencing clean energy transition in Central Asian petrostates, I offer an alternative analytic framework that I call ‘contrasting adaptatio…
Geostrategic context: Bridging alliances in the shadow of Sino-American competition
International audience
Circling the barrels: Kazakhstan’s regime stability in the wake of the 2014 oil bust
Most of Kazakhstan’s wealth hinges on oil rents, and the overall performance of the economy is closely linked to petroleum’s price fluctuations. This study asks (1) why the institution of private ownership of oil proceeds has not led to a positive transformation of patron–client relations embedded in the country’s energy sector, thus challenging the relevance of the ‘private ownership’ narrative, and (2) why the collapse in the price of oil did n…
Uncovering the Domestic Factor in the Sino-Russian Energy Partnership
What explains the differences in the Sino-Russian oil and gas cooperation? Overall, I suggest, the several trajectories are explained by the dissimilarities of oil and gas as commodities and potential foreign policy tools. These differences, along with other factors, such as corporate culture and individual personalities, shed light on the strategies of Russia’s gas conglomerates, Gazprom and Rosneft. Yet, if a more nuanced understanding of varia…
Italy’s path to gas liberalisation: Corporate power, monopoly distortions and the Russia factor
Existing studies show that, on average, national champions in energy-rich states tend to ‘stick around’ by maintaining strong links with their respective governments in the distribution of rents. Yet the foundations of preference formation – the particular role of national champions, their relationship to their respective governments and a limited number of third suppliers in that process – have neither been theorised nor investigated empirically…
The Ukraine Crisis: The Neglected Gas Factor
Italy’s path to gas liberalisation: Corporate power, monopoly distortions and the Russia factor
Existing studies show that, on average, national champions in energy-rich states tend to ‘stick around’ by maintaining strong links with their respective governments in the distribution of rents. Yet the foundations of preference formation – the particular role of national champions, their relationship to their respective governments and a limited number of third suppliers in that process – have neither been theorised nor investigated empirically…
Invisible but not indivisible: Russia, the European Union, and the importance of “Hidden Governance”
The Ukraine Crisis: The Neglected Gas Factor
Revisiting the Nabucco Debacle: Myths and Realities
The Nabucco pipeline has been the largest and, arguably, the most ambitious project promoted to “wean Europe from the Russian gas stranglehold.” Both the EU and the United States were strong proponents of the plan. Meanwhile, Gazprom launched its giant South Stream project in strategic partnership with some of the most experienced European energy companies. Despite declarations by both Russia and the EU that Nabucco and South Stream were not comp…
Russia’s Lasting Influence in Central Asia
Although Russia can no longer exercise hegemonic power or demand exclusive rights of engagement, it is still the preponderant regional player in Central Asia
Understanding Russia’s energy turn to China: Domestic Narratives and National Identity Priorities
This study investigates whether, as part of a broader “Asian Energy Pivot,” Russia’s energy giant Gazprom refashioned its export strategy away from Europe, and what impact such a reorientation might have on the EU–Russia gas relationship. It uses four empirical cases to emphasize the domestic movers underlying Russia’s eastward shift in energy trade, developing a constructivist theory rooted in the dynamics of Russia’s dominant public narrative a…
The Silk Road between a Rock and a Hard Place: Russian and Chinese Competition for Central Asia’s Energy
n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n China’s displacement of Russian\neconomic influence in Central Asia is generating great interest in Western\nacademic and policy circles, but this research has, as yet, yielded few\nanalytical nuances. This article attempts to shed light on the under-researched\nquestion of what explains Central Asian governments’ failure to more effectively\ncapitalize on the growing Central-Asian rivalry between Russia, Chi…
Explaining the 2014 Sino–Russian Gas Breakthrough: The Primacy of Domestic Politics
On 21 May 2014, during a state visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing, China and Russia signed a $400 billion, 30-year gas deal. Under this agreement, China will import 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom, beginning in 2018. Why, after 15 years of stalemated negotiations, did this breakthrough occur in 2014? Why did a natural, symbiotic gas relationship not develop earlier and more gradually? Most studies explain th…
Circling the barrels: Kazakhstan’s regime stability in the wake of the 2014 oil bust
Most of Kazakhstan’s wealth hinges on oil rents, and the overall performance of the economy is closely linked to petroleum’s price fluctuations. This study asks (1) why the institution of private ownership of oil proceeds has not led to a positive transformation of patron–client relations embedded in the country’s energy sector, thus challenging the relevance of the ‘private ownership’ narrative, and (2) why the collapse in the price of oil did n…
Political Transition on the Great Steppe: The Case of Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successor may not have the experience or charisma necessary to ensure Kazakhstan’s continued stability
The 2020 oil price dive in a carbon-constrained era: Strategies for energy exporters in central Asia
The quick rise of commercially viable renewable energy worldwide presents encouraging opportunities for sustainable growth, but it also portends new risks. Hydrocarbon-producing nations of Eurasia have typically strongly relied on geographic proximity to their most lucrative export market: Europe. Yet the revolutionary nature of Europe's ‘Green Deal’ means that their position is under threat. While the demand-side ramifications of the global low-…
Uncovering the Domestic Factor in the Sino-Russian Energy Partnership
What explains the differences in the Sino-Russian oil and gas cooperation? Overall, I suggest, the several trajectories are explained by the dissimilarities of oil and gas as commodities and potential foreign policy tools. These differences, along with other factors, such as corporate culture and individual personalities, shed light on the strategies of Russia’s gas conglomerates, Gazprom and Rosneft. Yet, if a more nuanced understanding of varia…
The dual transformation in development finance: Western multilateral development banks and China in post-Soviet energy
The energy resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus have drawn significant scholarly attention due to their geopolitical importance and role in regional economic development. Western multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the EBRD, have been the leading actors shaping norms and practices for lending to the energy sectors of these regions. China has also recently emerged as the top investor in hydrocarbons and renewabl…
Steppe-ing’ Out of Russia’s Shadow: Russia’s Changing ‘Energy Power’ in Post-Soviet Eurasia
This essay analyses the evolving character of Russia's energy relationships in the post-Soviet space by looking at the Caucasus and Central Asia. In the past, due to the historic legacy of Russia-controlled pipelines, Moscow was able to exert influence by manipulating structural asymmetries in regional natural gas value chains. This has changed with China's entry as the region's major market alternative and the breakthroughs of the global energy …
Schmierstoff der Beziehung: Russlands Energie für China. Russian Energy for China
For years, China has sought to meet its growing energy needs, diversify its fossil fuel imports, and strengthen its security of supply. Russia plays a central role in this effort. Oil has been flowing to China since 2011, gas since 2015. By selling more to China, Russia has been trying to compensate for the European markets lost due to the annexation of Crimea and the war of aggression against Ukraine. There are limits to this expansion. In energ…
Geostrategic context: Bridging alliances in the shadow of Sino-American competition
International audience
The Geopolitics of Energy after the Invasion of Ukraine
History and International Studies 1900-present
The distributional effects of the EU’s and China’s climate diplomacy in Central Asia
This article focuses on the cases of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two economic powerhouses of Central Asia, to provide an alternative account of the distributional effects of the EU’s external climate policy, with a specific focus on the European Green Deal (EGD). By stressing both vertical state-society relations within the local realities of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and horizontal interstate power relations among states, this framework links…
The varying levels of contrasting adaptation in Central Asia’s climate change politics
Central Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. There is, however, a lack of research on how local businesses, political elites and the general public perceive the need for comprehensive greening initiatives to address its consequences. To account for the material and ideational factors influencing clean energy transition in Central Asian petrostates, I offer an alternative analytic framework that I call ‘contrasting adaptatio…
Political science (17 works) · Economics (16 works) · Global Energy Security and Policy (13 works) · Politics (12 works) · Economy (10 works) · International trade (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Russia and Soviet political economy (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Economic system (8 works)