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Home > Open Access Journals > JSS > Vol. 5 > Volume 5, No. 3, Fall 2012: Energy Security

 

Author Biography

Boyka Stefanova is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science & Geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She specializes in European politics, European Union studies, and foreign policy. Dr. Stefanova earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Delaware, and a Doctorate in Economics at the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria. Her research interests focus on political conflict, European governance, territoriality and politics in the context of European integration, and security issues in Europe. Her publications examine a variety of topics in these research areas. Dr. Stefanova has published two books: "The War on Terror in Comparative Perspective" (co-edited with Mark J. Miller) with Palgrave (2007) and "The Europeanization of Conflict Resolution: Regional Integration and Conflicts in Europe from the 1950s to the 21st century" with Manchester University Press (2011).

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.5.3.4

Subject Area Keywords

Central Asia, Energy security, Europe and EU, Russia

Abstract

This article examines the European Union's (EU) approach to energy security on the example of its natural gas imports from Russia, the largest supplier of gas to European markets. Two major projects, Nord Stream in the Northern and Western part of the EU, and Nabucco in South-Central Europe, demonstrate opposing energy security strategies, seemingly at odds with the EU objective of achieving energy independence from Russia. The question arises: Are these strategies sustainable? How can they be reconciled and pursued under a common policy? The main argument is that such conflicting sub-regional policy initiatives are amenable to progressive realignment and serve common security objectives. The article examines the Nord Stream and Nabucco pipelines in the context of the Third Energy Package, a set of policy instruments for the creation of an EU-wide internal energy market. It demonstrates that the energy security strategies pursued through Nord Stream and Nabucco fit well with the logic of the internal market reflected in premises of flexibility and efficiency. The article concludes that the security of the EU's energy market may be pursued in practice by applying different formulas relying on a variable mix of networks, partnerships, and market integration with non-members.

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