In the configuration of Central Asia, China, Russia energy, China is increasing its geo-economic Influence but Russia remains the main military-strategic power.
Continue reading →The renewal of Turkish-Russian relations represents an invigoration of its already existing “Eurasian direction” in foreign policy, including outreach to Central Asia, India and China. It is a substitute for the failed “Zero Problems with Neighbors” policy of former foreign … Continue reading →
Is it possible that Angela Merkel, the gifted German chancellor whose management of European affairs has been so praised over the last decade, will figure in the history books as the person whose decisions led to the EU’s downfall? It … Continue reading →
Even before Turkey’s shoot-down of a Russian bomber for violating its airspace, there was Russia Turkey energy conflict over “renovated” prospects for the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project between the two countries. One had the right to be skeptical, … Continue reading →
Two unrelated announcements this week give the unhappy impression of Russian sanctions busting by German energy companies. The European Union decided last month to extend the sanctions against Russia that were set to expire at the end of July. Such … Continue reading →
The EU’s Eastern Partnership Ukraine policy fails to recognize the fact of a conflict situation in Ukraine. This failure exacerbates the deleterious results of the EU’s failure to define its goals there, as well as with respect to the Eastern … Continue reading →
Russia is gambling big with its Turkish Stream problem. Gazprom is preparing to begin work on the Turkish Stream pipeline without there being an Russian-Turkish intergovernmental agreement in place. The Japanese firm Saipem, which Russia has been paying for months … Continue reading →
Interview on John Batchelor Show, WABC-AM (770AM, New York City), 18 May 2015.
Turkish Stream pipeline prospects are not good in the long run even if Russia immediately begins laying the pipeline originally commissioned for use in South Stream.
A recent evaluation of prospects for a revival of the Nabucco West pipeline concludes that it is not feasible in the absence of a Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP) carrying gas from Turkmenistan, presumably crossing Asia Minor through TANAP. To this … Continue reading →
Interview on John Batchelor Show, WABC-AM 770 (New York City), 22 January 2015. … Continue reading →