Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will host a panel discussion on Oct. 16 titled “Energy, Peace, and Conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean.”  

The session investigates “the prospects for energy as a source of peace and conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean.”  

“The discovery of sizable reserves of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coasts of Cyprus and Turkey, as well as anticipated finds in Mediterranean coasts of other countries in the region, such as Israel and Lebanon, may be a potential game-changer in the region’s economic and security matrix.”  

“Can the region’s changing energy profile create new possibilities for peace out of seemingly intractable conflicts? Does the exploitation of the gas reserves create new possibilities for a diversification of energy resources and the easing of economic austerity pressures in the Eastern Mediterranean and, more broadly, Europe?”