Michal Benedykcinski

Michal was a Fox Fellow at Freie University, Germany and Moscow State University, Russia. Michal hopes to study the development of the European energy security strategies in relation to one of its main suppliers, Russia. Germany and Russia share a rich history of cooperation in the energy sector and are major forces behind the energy security negotiations on the European continent which makes them ideal destinations for this type of the project. Through archival research at FU Berlin and MSU, visits to the headquarters of major energy corporations, and interviews with senior executives, political activists, academics and government officials responsible for implementing energy policy, Michal will endeavor to answer the following questions: 1. Does the European Union have a collective energy security strategy? 2. If so, what does this strategy consist of and how does it prioritize between security, commercial and environmental concerns? 3. Have there been any changes in strategy over time? Europe can take steps to reduce or at least delay growing Russian influence by diversifying sources of gas supplies and investing in additional storage capacity. While diversification of supply sources and transit routes in the short run might lead to the additional costs from a construction of additional energy-supply infrastructure, in the long run it pays dividends of the increased security of energy supply, and increased autonomy in formulating both domestic and foreign policy.