Energy & Environment

Europe’s Last Dictator Under Pressure from Moscow

By Benjamin Bidder, der Spiegel

From Benjamin Bidder, der Spiegel:  The 65-year-old [President of Belarus Alexander] Lukashenko has been in office for 16 years, but never before have Moscow and the Belarusian autocrat had such irreconcilable differences. Bilateral relations have never been as bad as they are now, says the Belarusian political scientist Alexander Klaskovski.

Why We Need Big Oil

By Alexandros Petersen

In the aftermath of the largest oil spill in history, Big Oil — never the greatest of PR cases — has lost most of the few friends it ever had. When BP — whose assets stretch from Azerbaijan to Libya to the Alaskan Arctic — announced last month that it was planning to shrink in […]

Russian Espionage Targeting New NATO Members

By Gregory Feifer, RFE/RL

From Gregory Feifer, RFE/RL:  The three Czech generals make an impressive roster: the head of the president’s military office, the country’s NATO representative in Europe, and a deputy head of the chief of staff.

New NATO division to deal with Emerging Security Challenges

By NATO

From NATO:  A new Division within the NATO International Staff has been created in order to deal with a growing range of non-traditional risks and challenges. The new Emerging Security Challenges Division (ESCD) started its work beginning of August and will be focusing notably on terrorism, the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, cyber defence, […]

Turkey to follow UN sanctions on Iran, not tougher EU or US bans

By Hürriyet

Who is winning Eastern Europe’s great game?

By Katinka Barysch, the Center for European Reform

From Katinka Barysch, the Center for European Reform:  The US is withdrawing from the former Soviet space; the European Union struggles to be taken seriously there. Does that leave Russia free to strengthen its influence in the countries around its borders? Not necessarily, for the situation in the region is complex. … Although by far […]

Russia-Belarus “Gas War” is Over

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Russia resumed gas supplies to Belarus on Thursday and paid gas transit debts to Minsk in a move to ease fears of supply cuts to the European Union, which has called the dispute an attack on the entire bloc. Belarus said it had yet to receive the payments for transit but was ready […]

Belarus orders cutoff of Russian gas to Europe

By Deutsche Welle

From Deutsche Welle:  Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Russia and Belarus were facing a "gas war," similar to Russia’s 2009 conflict with Ukraine. He ordered that the flow of Russian gas to Europe via Belarus be stopped, saying Gazprom owes transit fees of $260 million (211 million euros) for the first half […]

The merits of a Russian relationship

By John Kerry, Politico

From John Kerry, Politico:  One year ago, the Obama administration launched an initiative to “reset” relations with Russia. As Russian President Dmitri Medvedev lands in Washington Tuesday, it’s clear that the outreach — which carried significant diplomatic and political risk — is paying off. … The cornerstone of our new cooperation is a new strategic arms […]

Russia Cuts Gas Deliveries to Belarus

By Ellen Barry, the New York Times

From Ellen Barry, the New York Times:  Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday ordered Gazprom to cut deliveries of natural gas deliveries to Belarus over unpaid debts, a step which could jeopardize supplies to Poland and other European countries.