Europe moves to reduce energy dependency on Russia

The Ukrainian crisis and sour relations with Russia highlight the need to address the EU’s energy security issues. The recent EU Ypres summit decision might be an important step in this direction. In late May, the European Commission unveiled the new European Energy Security Strategy (EESS) with key recommendations on how to improve the EU’s […]

Presidential elections bring Ukraine closer to the West

The success of the presidential elections and the clean victory of the pro-European candidate Petro Poroshenko will bring Ukraine closer to the West, but the conflict with Russia is likely to continue. The Ukrainian presidential elections took place on 25 May amid the most difficult political situation since the country gained independence from the Soviet […]

Sino-Russian natural gas deal transforms global energy markets

Sino-Russian energy deal will have profound economic consequences for global energy markets and will have an impact on relations between Russia and the West. On 21 May, Russia and China signed a decade-long negotiated deal on Russian natural gas exports to China valued at $400 billion. According to the agreement, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom will […]

Austria-Russia energy deal exposes EU disunity over Ukraine

A recent gas deal between Austrian energy company OMV and Russian gas exporter Gazprom exposes fractures within the European Union bloc over responses to the Ukraine crisis and threatens the stability of the EU policy-making. When it comes to natural gas diplomacy, member states of the EU have always found it difficult to unite under […]

Russia faces expanding regional debt crisis

Recent data released by Russia’s Court of Accounts indicates that the country’s regional governments are facing crisis situations with regional debts. In the past year, the level of total regional debt has doubled to 642 billion rubles, 3.3 times higher than had been expected from the Ministry of Finance. The number of regions that have […]

EU takes steps toward energy independence from Russia

With recent events in Ukraine strongly affecting security relations between the West and Russia, both Brussels and Moscow are increasing efforts to reduce their mutual energy-financial dependency. European energy dependency is not a new thing. Despite aims to cut its energy imports, since 2000 the EU actually increased them by 10% (mainly by reducing domestic […]

Book Review: Great Games, Local Rules

In his recently published book Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia, Alexander Cooley offers a penetrating analysis of the geopolitical maneuvering and strategies pursued by the United States, China, and Russia across Central Asia in the decade after the September 11th attacks. Alexander Cooley, a professor of International Relations at […]

Energy sector strongly affected by the Ukrainian crisis

With events rapidly unfolding, energy comes to the forefront in the East-West conflict over Ukraine.  The past weeks in Ukraine have once again shown a close correlation between extreme political volatility and energy markets.  As an immediate consequence of the Russian intervention in the Crimea, the price of crude oil has gone up by more […]

Russia is eying China to expand energy ties with Asia

As Europe aims to diversify its energy sources, Russia is looking to the East to develop links with the more energy-prospective Asian markets. In June 2013, Russia’s oil giant Rosneft formalised a deal with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to supply the Chinese market with 26 billion barrels of oil over a 25 year […]

Russia plans to win the Arctic race

Russia’s behavior in the Arctic reveals a strong prioritization of national economy and energy security at the expense of environmental sustainability. This behavior has an important effect on the region, to the point of introducing military concerns. The world is witnessing an exciting development: A previously remote region, the Arctic, is slowly becoming an arena for […]