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• Teaching Plan | HBS Case Collection | 2013

  Latvia: Navigating the Strait of Messina (TP)

  Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Natalie Kindred

  Citation:

  Abdelal, Rawi, Rafael Di Tella, and Natalie Kindred. "Latvia: Navigating the Strait of Messina (TP)." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 713-010, April 2013.

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2010 version)

  Energy Security in Europe (A): Nord Stream

  Rawi E. Abdelal and Sogomon Tarontsi

  Russian and German energy firms initiated the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline project with strong political support from their home governments but encountered resistance from other states. Although the pipeline would connect Russia with Germany directly, the project was not simply a bilateral matter. First, a need to secure construction permits in multiple jurisdictions around the Baltic Sea involved other countries. And second, Germany's membership in the European Union entailed compliance with goals and values of the entire union, which stressed the imperative of collective action in energy matters and dangers of succumbing to "national reflexes." Thus the implications of the project became a matter of concern to the entire European Union but Europeans struggled to articulate the meaning of Nord Stream: was it a "separate peace" between Russia and Germany to the detriment of the rest, or was it a pan-European deal to the benefit of all? As the case chronicles, the success of Nord Stream depended on the ability of its creators to ensure that latter view prevailed over the former.

  Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Leadership; Distribution; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Russia; European Union; Germany;

  Citation:

  Abdelal, Rawi E., and Sogomon Tarontsi. "Energy Security in Europe (A): Nord Stream." Harvard Business School Case 711-026, February 2013. (Revised from original November 2010 version.)

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• Supplement | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2010 version)

  Energy Security in Europe (B): The Southern Corridor

  Rawi E. Abdelal and Sogomon Tarontsi

  Nabucco natural gas pipeline, initiated by a group of European energy companies, was intended to connect the broad gas-rich region of the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe for the first time, which would diversify supply sources. At the same time, an Italian-Russian consortium announced South Stream natural gas pipeline, which would diversify transport routes for the delivery of Russian gas to Europe. To win support, backers of Nabucco and South Stream insisted that their projects were aimed at fulfilling goals of the energy policy of the EU (reduction of use of fossil fuels to combat climate change and guaranteed physical availability and affordability of imported fossil fuels). But, as the case demonstrates, both projects progressed slowly, encountering many technological and commercial challenges, which, however, were eclipsed by the extreme politicization of Nabucco and South Stream: pipelines became a factor in domestic politics of several European nations and figured prominently in relations between the EU, EU states, Russia, Turkey, former Soviet republics in Caucasus and Central Asia, and the United States. Although they would comprise only a small part in the overall architecture of Europe's energy security, the case of Nabucco and South Stream reveals the limits of the ambitious energy policy of the EU.

  Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Distribution; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Russia; European Union;

  Citation:

  Abdelal, Rawi E., and Sogomon Tarontsi. "Energy Security in Europe (B): The Southern Corridor." Harvard Business School Supplement 711-033, February 2013. (Revised from original November 2010 version.)

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