Russias's Energy Policy: Should Europe Worry?

Abstract

East-West relations are deteriorating to a level not seen since the Soviet period. Recent cover stories on Russia from Th e Economist (December 16, 2006) and Der Spiegel (March 5, 2007) present President Vladimir Putin as a gangster with a gasoline pump and a Soviet Commissar wielding Gazprom’s massive pipeline network. Th ese images illustrate a growing fear in the West that Russia is a threat. Russia, according to this point of view, is using energy as a weapon to rebuild its empire. Th is article examines to what extent Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian oil and natural gas supplies, should worry.