Francesco Sassi is a PhD candidate at the University of Pisa. His academic activities are focused on the cooperation and competition dynamics in energy security between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation. Francesco’s research interests are focused on the use of National Oil Companies as foreign policy tools and energy security issues in Eurasia. He holds a Master degree in International Relations and a Bachelor degree in International studies, both from the University of Bologna. Francesco has been a visiting student at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (now School of Global Policy & Strategy)at the University of California, San Diego. He is now a Visiting Researcher at the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore.