Dr Adnan Vatansever is a Reader in Russian Political Economy in the King’s Russia Institute.

Previously, Adnan worked as a senior associate in the energy and climate program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a senior associate in Russian and Caspian energy at IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and a consultant for the World Bank and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Adnan combines a wealth of industry knowledge and experience on energy markets with a robust academic perspective. He holds a PhD from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and M.A. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He speaks Russian, Bulgarian, Turkish and English.

Research

Adnan's research focuses broadly on the political economy of energy and economic policy-making in Russia/Eurasia. His recent book, Oil in Putin’s Russia: The Contests over Rents and Economic Policy, examines the political economy of resource rent management in contemporary Russia.

Ongoing research projects include: economic rents and authoritarianism, energy security and energy transition in Europe; politics of energy subsidies in Russia. Additional areas of focus in his research include the following: the political economy of economic modernisation; EU-Russian energy relations; the era of “smart sanctions” and the Russian case; Russia’s energy policy-making in the oil and gas sector; the rising role of Asia in Eurasian energy; state-business relations in Russia/Eurasia; state and market intervention in post-communist states; fiscal capacity and public spending in Russian/Eurasian context; rule of law and governance; regional development.

Teaching

• Oil, Gas and Modernization in Russia
• The Politics of Energy Security in Eurasia
• The Practice of Policymaking in Contemporary Russia
• Russia Policy and Society Dissertation
• Geopolitics of Energy

PhD Supervision

Adnan welcomes PhD applicants interested in political economy of energy in Russia/Eurasia; economic policy-making in resource-rich states.