On Sunday, September 20, 2014, Dr. Neil Quilliam, Middle East and North Africa Energy Advisor at Chatham House, London, UK gave a special seminar on “Energy Policy”. Dr. Neil Quilliam leads the GCC Future Trends project at Chatham House and served as Senior Energy Adviser to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London for several years.

 

In his talk, Dr. Neil Quilliam discussed the complex decision-making process that leads to the formulation of the United Kingdom's energy policy, which must always balance the country's domestic and international interests. Firstly, Dr. Quilliam talked about how the “bureaucratic approach” helps explain policy outcomes that result from a game of bargaining among a small, highly placed group of governmental actors. Secondly, Dr. Quilliam shared his insights into how the “bureaucratic” model of behavior best explains UK policy by highlighting energy policy processes and key actors. Finally, Dr. Quilliam discussed a number of case studies, including the application of energy sanctions and energy diplomacy to illustrate his analysis. In sum, the talk was aimed at better informing faculty and students on the mechanics of UK policy-making and in the wider context, how decisions on energy policy are reached and implemented.

 

This well-attended presentation was attended by both faculty and students. In addition, the detailed talk prompted a series of interesting and pertinent questions from the audience related to wider energy policy and energy-related issues.