Energy & Environment

Winners and Losers in SG Speech

In his first major speech as Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen placed a great deal of emphasis on reassuring Russia, but did he do so at the expense of alliance cohesion? As you can see in the video of his press conference, after Afghanistan, Rasmussen identified NATO-Russian relations as his second priority. He […]

Russia’s Energy Weapon Could Take Aim at USA

By Alexandros Petersen

Recently the European Commission urgently recommended that all European Union member-state governments begin filling natural-gas storage facilities in preparation for energy cutoffs from Russia. If Russia’s Kremlin-controlled energy monopoly Gazprom gets its way, such emergency measures may also become a reality in the United States.

Europe Slashes Its Defense Budgets

By Newsweek

From Newsweek: Already this year, Italy has downsized its defense spending by about 7 percent and Spain has cut about 4 percent. Analysts are predicting that Britain’s roughly $60 billion annual defense budget could face cuts as high as 25 percent in coming years. And top military and civilian officials, including Lord Paddy Ashdown, are […]

An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe

By wyborcza.com

From wyborcza.com: All is not well either in our region or in the transatlantic relationship. Central and Eastern Europe is at a political crossroads and today there is a growing sense of nervousness in the region. The global economic crisis is impacting on our region and, as elsewhere, runs the risk that our societies will […]

Europe Needs Diversified Energy Strategy

By Borut Grgic

After Gazprom signed a deal with Azerbaijan for 500 million cubic meters of gas, the Nabucco bunch got together in Ankara and agreed on a legal basis for the 3300 kilometer long pipeline which will connect the European market to the Caspian gas.

Russia May Score Final Coup in Energy Battle

By Alexandros Petersen

The European Union is touting its deal with Turkey on Monday to realize the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project as a major coup in the quest for alternative energy routes that bypass Russia. The project’s major transit country, Turkey, may have been brought on board, but Ankara’s other energy interests in the Caucasus may still […]

Russia’s Neighbors Resist Wooing and Bullying

By NYTimes.com

From NYTimes.com: There are few projects that matter more to Russia than restoring its influence in the former Soviet republics, whose loss to many in Moscow is still as painful as a phantom limb. Competition over Georgia and Ukraine has brought relations between Moscow and Washington to a post-cold-war low, and the matter is bound […]

Why Nigeria Matters: Another Reminder

By Nikolas Gvosdev

This morning’s attack on a key Nigerian oil pipeline provides yet another graphic reminder as to why West Africa matters to the economic and energy security of the Euro-Atlantic world.