03/01/2006 10:10:09 am
Economic Warfare. In the middle of the winter, Russia turns off its gas exports to Ukraine after it declined to pay a quadrupling of the prices. This has also affected the rest of Europe. And since Ukraine actually imports more gas from Turkmenistan than Russia - and Russia is doing what it can to have Turkmenistan to cut theirs too - what we see is a political conflict. And of course things like this were to be expected following the election in Ukraine that made Yuchenko the President. Putin did what he could to have his authoritarian opponent re-elected.

Of course one big part of the problem here are the Russian policies, which are based on a classic power play founded on fear. It is the logical consequence of the nationalist rhetoric of Putin and his increasingly authoritarian government. But the main problem is the fact that business has been mixed, not with pleasure, but with the state. Had Gazprom been a private company, this would never have happened. Then, the Russian government would not have the power over the gas. Now it does, and it is a part of the resources they can use to pursue their policies.

Trade of goods and services between countries is in every way a great thing. It brings prosperity by specialisation and makes military conflicts more unlikely. But it is a different thing when citizens and companies in various countries are dependent on the state energy of another country. Then it becomes politics and is a weapon that can be used instead of military means. In this political perspective, this may be another reason for governments in Western Europe to allow for the construction of new nuclear power production.