Category: Russia
Storm Clouds Gathering Over South Africa
Jacob Zuma was forced out as head of the ANC at its annual National Executive Committee meeting in December 2017. It is worth noting that it is the head of the ANC who leads the ticket during South Africa’s national … Continue reading
Russian Petroleum: Partnerships and Influence
In a world in which the calculus of power is increasingly complex, the only element of power that clearly serves Russian interest is energy resources. While Putin has done much to restore his country’s military capacity, its raw materials have … Continue reading
Trump Hosts Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis
Iohannis’ White House visit was reassuring for those Eastern European NATO countries that feel threatened by Russia. For the Western European leaders, the message sent by President Trump was that they must meet the 2% of GDP annual payment for … Continue reading
Reviving the V4 alternative in Central Europe
Many Western Europeans ask: Why antagonize Moscow, thereby sacrificing comfort and relatively cheap natural gas, by defending second-class Europeans? But the answer is that, together, the V4 countries have 64 million inhabitants, which puts them in the same ranks as … Continue reading
Russia in Syria Reminds us of Soviet Actions in Cuba
Russian/Iranian actions in Syria represent a major gamble based on the perception of American weakness. An initial strong and swift response now will prevent the need for a riskier response in the future. Continue reading
P5+1 Iran Deal Reduces American Influence
The United States and Iran are not morally equivalent; we do not share the same creed, vision for the world, or idea of liberty and justice. The U.S. initiates violence only to defend the lives of its citizens or liberate people from tyranny. Tehran’s theocracy initiates violence to further expand its reach with an end goal of establishing a global caliphate under the banner of radical Shia Islam. The U.S. is a liberating force, while the Islamic Republic of Iran is a conquering one. Continue reading
Russia’s Gift, Turkey’s Move
Moscow’s Vladimir Putin has resolved to send his energy to the European Union via Turkey. Ankara’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accepted for his own geopolitical reasons and for the benefit of the neo-Ottomanist project, an attempt to re-create Turkic political, social, economic, and cultural dominion in its former imperial space, space some Western observers who have judged that the Islamic democracy has thus been merely assigned the inconsequential role of a transit area.
Can the U.S. Provide Europe with Energy Security in the Face of Russian Aggression?
It appears conditions are right for the U.S. to export oil and gas in significant amounts to Europe. This would be not only economically favorable to the U.S. but politically very favorable to Europe, since it could largely replace in the medium term an unreliable source of energy supply from Russia by a much more reliable and friendly source, the United States.
Ukraine and U.S. Natural Gas Exports: Right Policy, Right Now
For perhaps the first time since the 2010 election inaugurated divided control of Capitol Hill, there was actual excitement about energy legislation as the House took up a bill to expedite the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It’s not that the House hasn’t passed dozens of bills to encourage domestic oil and gas production, or discipline extralegal rulemakings by the EPA – it surely has. Rather, it’s been the automatic DOA status of these measures in the Senate that’s made the movie seem old and predictable. Well, that may be changing.
Kremlin Stifles Pipeline Capacity
Oil is produced but it must be refined, transported and exported to become profitable. Ideally, this sequence should be guaranteed before the first stage of production begins.
A Failing Russian Military and the Global Struggle for Energy
A seminar on the Russian Military conducted August 24th at the Washington-based Hudson Institute with panelists conveyed a picture of the Russian military being in poor shape, badly organized and burdened with obsolete weapons.
The Nabucco Pipeline Project: Russia And The Politics Of Natural Gas
Upon signing the definitive agreement to proceed with construction, July 13, in Ankara, Turkey, the countries participating in the pipeline consortium project: Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey will be forced to address both its technical requirements and its political complexity.
Energy and Russia’s New Cold War
In two recent articles we have described how Russian foreign policy is being built around its energy resources.
Pipelines: Russia’s New Weapons
In its efforts to increase political control over Europe Russia is utilizing new weapons, not the nuclear devices or missiles of the Cold War, but pipelines.
Russian Energy Resurgence
For many years, the Soviet Union and later Russia have been known to possess great resources of hydrocarbons, although much of it exists in extremely harsh and difficult physical environments: Siberia and the Artic Ocean.
Caspian Oil and Gas Flows to the West Impacted by Russian-Georgian Conflict
The recent military conflict between Russia and Georgia illustrates the increasing fragility of the world energy equation.
