Strategy International highlights the participation of our affiliate, Dr Minas Lyristis, in the 2026 ILA-ASIL EastMed-MENA Research Forum, held on 9–10 July 2026 at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The Forum was organised by the Hellenic Branch of the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law, bringing together academics and practitioners to examine international law, regional integration, energy transition, geoeconomics, digital governance, and maritime security across the Eastern Mediterranean and the MENA region.
Dr Lyristis presented the paper “De-risking Connectivity through Strategic Integration: The Great Sea Interconnector within the IMEC Legal and Geopolitical Framework,” co-authored with Dr Thomas N. Papanastasiou, Associate Professor of Public International Law at the University of Nicosia. Their contribution was delivered during the panel on New Economic Corridors, Regional Integration and Plurilateral Cooperation, which explored the evolving legal and institutional architecture of connectivity initiatives across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The study examines how the Great Sea Interconnector, the planned electricity connection between Greece, Cyprus, and potentially Israel, could be strategically associated with the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. It argues that such integration could provide an additional layer of protection for the project by transforming it from a predominantly bilateral energy initiative into an infrastructure asset of wider European and trans-regional significance.
A central part of the analysis concerns the distinction between commercial, political, and geopolitical risk. The authors identify a legal protection gap where disruption is caused by a non-participating third state, rather than by the investor or the host state. Particular attention is given to the Greece-Cyprus framework for sharing the economic consequences of third-state interference, which is presented as an important example of institutional innovation in the allocation of geopolitical risk.
The paper argues that the corridor can function as a soft-law and institutional de-risking framework. By expanding the number of states and institutions with an interest in the project’s completion, strategic integration can increase the diplomatic and reputational cost of disruption, strengthen investor confidence, and connect the project to wider priorities concerning energy security, clean connectivity, and supply-chain resilience.
The authors conclude that Greece and Cyprus should systematically incorporate the Great Sea Interconnector into their IMEC and European Global Gateway diplomacy. The project should be presented as a positive-sum initiative serving energy transition, European integration, and regional stability, rather than as an instrument of geopolitical exclusion. The study demonstrates how legal risk allocation, institutional support, technical resilience, and active corridor diplomacy can jointly strengthen strategic infrastructure in contested geopolitical environments.
Dr Lyristis’ participation reflects Strategy International’s commitment to evidence-based research on energy security, regional connectivity, international law, and the changing geopolitical architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
