George Vlad Niculescu
Dr George Vlad Niculescu is originally from Bucharest, Romania, and is currently the Head of Research of the European Geopolitical Forum. He is also a co-Chair of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes (PfPC). In October 2019, he has successfully defended his PhD thesis on "SECURITY SCENARIOS PLANNING IN THE GEOPOLITICAL AREA FROM THE BALTIC SEA TO THE WIDER BLACK SEA (INTER-MARIUM)" at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (NSPSPA) Bucharest, and received his PhD degree in June 2021. He has also academic experience as a member of several other PfPC working groups, as well as assistant professor and/or visiting lecturer at the NSPSPA, "Dimitrie Cantemir" University, NATO Studies Centre, and the PfP Training Centre from Bucharest (1997-2004). Dr Niculescu has been involved in several international research projects sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation), the European Commission (HiQSTEP Project), and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. His full CV and list of publications could be found here.
E-mail: george.niculescu@gpf-europe.com
Ben McPherson
Principal Editor
Ben McPherson was born in New Hampshire, in the United States, and currently lives in Brussels, Belgium. He obtained bachelor's degrees in History and Genocides Studies in the U.S., and holds a Master's Degree in Conflict and Security from the University of Kent. He has extensive energy work experience, including work at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels as well as in environmental regulation and natural gas pipeline inspection all over the United States. In addition to content management and editorial work for EGF, Mr McPherson also writes on energy and security with an interest in the Middle East and the South Caucasus.
E-mail: ben.mcpherson@gpf-europe.com
Greta Wagner
Researcher and editorial assistant
Greta Wagner joined the EGF as researcher and editorial assistant in April 2019. She is originally from Germany and she is currently based in Czechia and the UK. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Göttingen and a Master's degree in International Economy & Business from Andrássy University Budapest and has gained professional experience in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus. In 2019, Ms. Wagner has completed an International Master's degree in Security, Intelligence & Strategic Studies jointly awarded by the University of Glasgow, Dublin City University, and Charles University Prague. Her research interests include Caspian and Black Sea regional and sub-regional affairs, NATO and EU relations with Russia and post-Soviet states, Middle East and North Africa security, and the application of foresight methods in the field of security studies.
E-mail: greta.wagner@gpf-europe.com
Associate Staff
Andrej Kreutz
Professor Andrej Kreutz is originally from Krakow, Poland, and has for many years held academic posts in the sphere of international relations at a number of Canadian universities. His main fields of interest involve post-Soviet Russian foreign policy, the post-Cold War international system and the politics and history of the Middle East. His most recent book, Russia in the Middle East: Friend or Foe ?, was published by Praeger in 2006. He is the EGF adviser on trans-Atlantic security and is currently working on a new book on Russia in the Eurasian geopolitical system. He speaks, Polish, Russian and English.
E-mail: Andrej.Kreutz@gpf-europe.com
Jack Sharples
EGF Associate Researcher on the External Dimensions of Russian Gas
Dr Jack Sharples is a Research Fellow on the Natural Gas Research Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). He has been the author of the monthly Gazprom Monitor reports since May 2012. His research focuses on the political economy of the European gas market (and the role of Russia on that market in particular). This includes key trends in European gas supplies, wholesale gas market dynamics, and developments that influence gas consumption.
Dr Sharples has published numerous papers and articles on the European gas market, and the role of Russia on that market. Recent publications include: 'Ukrainian gas transit: Still vital for Russian gas supplies to Europe as other routes reach full capacity' (May 2018); 'UK dependence on imported hydrocarbons: How important is Russia?' (March 2018); 'Gazprom in Europe – two "Anni Mirabiles", but can it continue?' (with James Henderson, March 2018); 'The political economy of energy security in Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, and the EU' (2018); 'Europe's largest natural gas producer in an era of climate change: Gazprom' (2017); 'The shifting geopolitics of Russia's gas exports and the impact on EU Russia gas relations' (2016); 'Energy transitions in carbon-producing countries: Russia' (2016); 'Building the Energy Union: the problem of cross-border gas pipeline interconnections in Baltic, Central, and South-Eastern Europe' (2016); 'The importance of gas storage facilities in the European gas and power markets' (2016); and 'Russian gas supplies to Europe: the likelihood, and potential impact, of an interruption in gas transit via Ukraine' (2016).
Dr Sharples received his PhD from the University of Glasgow, UK, having written his thesis on the political economy of state-business relations in the Russian gas sector. His doctoral thesis analysed the relationship between Gazprom and the Russian state on the domestic Russian gas market, in transit/supply relations with Ukraine and Belarus, and on the EU gas market. During his PhD studies, he was a Visiting Researcher at the European University of St Petersburg, the Brussels School of International Studies, and the Institute of Europe (Russian Academy of Sciences), Moscow.
Dr Sharples' CV, along with details of his research and publication activities, may be found at the websites given below.
E-mail: jack.sharples@gpf-europe.com / jsharples@eu.spb.ru
OIES website: https://www.oxfordenergy.org/authors/jack-sharples
Personal website: http://oxfordenergy.academia.edu/JackSharples
Claudia Nocente
Claudia Nocente was born in Italy and has received her BA in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Padua (Italy) and her MA from the University of Kent in Brussels in International Conflict Analysis with a dissertation on state sovereignty, no-fly zones' enforcement and humanitarian intervention. She has a genuine academic and personal interest in the MENA countries and hopes to deepen her knowledge of the area. After following her family in Kuwait after the First Gulf War, due to her father's deployment as a UN observer in the UNIKOM Mission, she has lived in the diplomatic world since her childhood. She is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish, she has a basic knowledge of French and German and she is now approaching Classic Arabic.
E-mail: claudia.nocente@gpf-europe.com
Former EGF Associates
Nora Renger
Nora Renger holds a BA and MA degree in International Relations from the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris where she specialized in the Middle East. She also holds a BA degree in Asian Studies from the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn/Germany. Nora acquired professional experience in foreign and security policy and development policy at the Foundation Konrad Adenauer and at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. A range of stays in Morocco as well as an internship at the German Chamber of Foreign Trade in Casablanca in Morocco allowed her to not only acquire experience in the German-Morocco economic relations but to obtain also a deep insight in the Moroccan culture. Nora speaks German, French, English and Arabic. She is an EGF research assistant with a special focus on the Middle East and North Africa
E-mail: nora.renger@gpf-europe.com
Denis Maksimov
Denis Maksimov is an expert in Russian political processes evolution, foreign and public policy relating to Russia and the former Soviet Union. Denis serves as a consultant with Brussels and Moscow based think tanks and private corporations. His interests and ongoing projects lie in the fields of political risk analysis in Russia and the ex-USSR, as well as the development of practical formats of future cooperation between Russia and the European Union. Denis holds a BA in Political Science and a MA in International Relations & European Studies from the Higher School of Economics (Moscow). He also holds a certificate in International Security from Stanford University (USA). He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) and his thesis Advisor, Igor Y. Yurgens, is a member of several advisory committees to the President of Russian Federation. Denis has published more than 20 articles in scientific and analytical journals in Russian and English.
E-mail: denis@maksimov.net
Claudia Lostanlen
Claudia Lostanlen, Trainee: Claudia Lostanlen was born in France and she is pursuing her Bachelor Degree in Political Science and Geopolitics at Sciences Po Aix. She is currently interning for the European Geopolitical Forum offering assistance with logistics and research. Her main interests revolve around military history, geopolitics and international relations, which a specific focus on the causes and repercussions of conflicts on today's world. She is fluent in French and Italian and conversant in English and German.
E-mail: claudia.lostanlen@gpf-europe.com
Steffen Weber
Steffen Weber is the Secretary-General of the EU Arctic Forum and Chief Adviser on the Arctic region inside the European Parliament. He has served as the head of cabinet to several members of the European Parliament and remains highly active in EU advisory-decision making circles pertaining to external relations. He also holds an honorary lectureship at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and has been project director for several European think tanks in the area of the development of pan-Baltic relations in the post-Cold War era. He is EGF chief adviser on geopolitics of the "High North", including the wider-Arctic and Baltic regions. He speaks German, Swedish, Finnish and English
E-mail: Steffen.Weber@gpf-europe.com
Justin Dargin
Justin Dargin is a Research Fellow with The Dubai Initiative and a Fulbright Scholar of the Middle East at Harvard University. He is a specialist in international energy law and a prolific author on energy affairs. He specializes in carbon trading, the global oil and gas market, the legal framework surrounding the Gulf energy sector, and Middle Eastern geopolitics. He has spent stints at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and the Dubai School of Government. He is active in energy decision making circles in the Middle East and is EGF adviser on Euro-Atlantic relations with the Gulf in the oil and gas sphere. He is fluent in Spanish, Arabic and English
E-mail: justin_dargin@hks.harvard.edu
Emily Perkins
Emily Perkins is an American presently living in Washington, DC. Her work experience has focused on program management and business development for education, software, and medical organizations. After living in Ireland, Australia, and cities across the U.S., Emily recently completed a degree in law and international relations at the University of Kent, Brussels School for International Studies. Her thesis at Kent addressed American legal exceptionalism and its impact on Palestinian statehood. She is an EGF researcher and editorial assistant
E-mail: Emilydperkins@gmail.com
Marco C. Pantelakis
Marco C. Pantelakis is a Masters degree candidate in International Relations at the University of Kent at Brussels, specializing in the geopolitics of energy security in Eurasia. After graduating from the University of Venice (Italy), his studies were enriched through research experiences in the United States, Egypt and Greece, which led him to develop a deep interest in religious and anthropological affairs ranging from Sufism to Islamic fundamentalism and Christian Orthodoxy. His current research on Eurasian geopolitics is thus supported by a background in the history of the region from the fall of Byzantium to the rise of the Arab and Ottoman empires. This allows him to identify the hidden dynamics of ongoing Eurasian conflicts. Marco speaks English, Greek, Italian and is currently studying German and Arabic. Marco is an EGF researcher-analyst in the sphere of Eurasian energy.
E-mail: Marco.Pantelakis@gpf-europe.com
Marat Terterov