East Med juggles win/losses and win/wins

Rivalry continues to impact energy projects across the region. But collaboration will be essential to achieve economic potential

The discovery of a significant new hydrocarbon play in the Eastern Mediterranean a decade ago shone a greater geopolitical spotlight on the region. A series of discoveries fueled ambitions on the part of littoral states, attracted the interest of outside powers and made the East Med a potentially significant pivot point for European energy security and diversification. These finds also drew unprecedented attention to the region's—at times strained—political, economic, and security relations. They facilitated the establishment, or strengthening, of cooperation between states but also sparked rivalry and/or accentuated existing conflicts. A decade later, the East Med finds itself at a crossroa