I am a Postdoctoral Fellow/Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science of the University of Oslo. Previously, I worked in energy consultancy businesses and I collaborate with several public and private institutions on energy geopolitics, energy security and energy diplomacy. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science - Geopolitics from the University of Pisa in 2021 with honour.
Academic interests
My research spans international relations, energy studies, geopolitics and related subfields. I am interested in exploring power dynamics in energy interdependencies, energy as a tool of statecraft, State and Market actors in energy landscapes, logic and strategies in energy security and transition policies.
- IRT and interdependence theories
- Energy diplomacy, geopolitics, security
- Power theory
- Resource geopolitics
- Energy transition and Energy security logics
My research has been published in Energy Policy, Politics and Governance, Energy Strategy Reviews, The Journal of World Energy Law & Business
Teaching at UiO
- STV4282 - The Politics of Global Energy
- STV2250 - International Environmental and Resource Politics
- STV2230 - International Security Policy
- INTER2000 - Case Work in International Studies
- STV2380 - Between Authoritarianism and Democracy in the Post-communist Region
Publications
- Sassi, F. (2026) Electricity as Infrastructural Power: Mapping the Physical and Social Dimensions of Norway–EU Interdependence. Politics and Governance, Volume 14, Article 12246. DOI: 10.17645/pag.12246
- Sassi F. (2025) The (Un) Intended consequences of power: The global implications of EU LNG strategy to reach independence from Russian gas. Energy Policy, Volume 198. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114494
- Sassi F. (2023) The Geopolitics of the EU-Russia Gas Trade: Reviewing Power in International Gas Markets. In Taghizadeh-Hesary, F., Zhang, D. (Eds) The Handbook of Energy Policy. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. pp.33-67.
- Sassi F. (2023) State and Market in China’s Coal-to-Gas Transition. In Gromek-Brok K. (Eds), Regional Approaches to the Energy Transition:A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Springer, Cham. pp 145–180. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-19358-3_10
- Sassi F. (2022) Structural power in Russia's gas sector: The commoditisation of the gas market and the case of Novatek. Energy Strategy Reviews, Volume 41. DOI: 10.1016/j.esr.2022.100842
- Sassi F., Frassineti F. (2021) Chaos at the Gates: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and energy price shocks on South Korea’s gas industry amid energy transition. The Journal of World Energy Law & Business 14 (3), 190-204. DOI: 10.1093/jwelb/jwab018