For the past decade Ukraine has been in the midst of a political tussle, or metaphorically a 'Geopolitical Football Championship'. Though, in all fairness, it is hard to see it as a unified team. As it appears more like a political trophy for two major sides. On one side, the EU aims to win Ukraine to make sure its gas is supposedly more secured and to continue its enlargement policy for both rational and questionable reasons. On the other, Russia aims to make sure it achieves its...
"Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera"
Napoleon Bonaparte
The awakening of this old sleeping giant, or more accurately its re-awakening, has led much ink to be spilled and many keys to be worn-down. For many, this phenomenon was of great interest naturally due to China’s huge size and its equally large potential; especially, in contrast to the economically and politically stagnating West. However, for Russia, this re-emergence plays an exceptional role which...
Euro-Russian relations have strained over the recent years in energy matters as certain vested interests shifted perceptions into the realm of what I would express as logical fallacies – technically making sense to a degree, but only when numerous caveats are applied. In this post issues like energy weaponry (enormous logical fallacy in my opinion), market reforms, looming contract litigation, energy security, shale revolution and domestic challenges will be discussed. In this post I am joined...
Dr. Adrian Pabst is a political theorist and a theologian. He is a lecturer in politics at the University of Kent and a visiting professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lille (Sciences Po). His research concerns capitalism, religion, ethics, civil economy, European Union and wider Europe like Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. He is an Associate Editor of the journal TELOS and Fellow of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy. In 2012 Dr. Pabst was appointed a Trustee of the independent non-partisan...
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand or more perilous to conduct… than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."
– Niccolò Machiavelli
Machiavelli's quote stresses three things. Firstly, it underlines that any new route will likely be perilous. Secondly, it highlights that someone must take the responsibility to direct the nation's path. Lastly, it grants me the chance to include Machiavelli into my blog; for those...
Internet like Steam Engine, is a Technological Breakthrough that Changed the World
Peter Singer
Up to recently, I was sceptical about Singer's quote. As my economic background reminded me that the light bulb was more revolutionary for growth, and as I am quite a social person, I avoided too much online interaction; but my (belated) discovery of Twitter altered my views. I was never going to tweet about futile things like 'how good was my sandwich', but rather form it into...
... Afghanistan since 2001 and the European Union which has been gaining an interest there since 2006-2007 in an attempt to exploit Central Asia’s need to diversify its energy exports – have impacted upon Russia’s position. Moreover, the E.U. in particular wants access to Turkmen gas and Kazakh oil and gas, as a way to diversify its energy imports and rely less on Russia.
However, the Central Asian states will remain allies of Russia. The ties between the two regions are so close – ...
During the process of preparing and researching for my dissertation «The Role of Eastern Energy Strategy in the Russian Foreign Policy: Opportunities and Threats» at the HSE, I was introduced to this insightful publication «Energy Outlook Until 2035». Today I wish to share its findings and conclusions with anyone who is interested in the oil and gas industry. Before commencing, I just want to give all the appropriate credits and the report link. Please Feel Free to Comment...
... the other, it upturns this view by importing highly polluting, albeit relatively cheap, US coal. Aside from sending a bad message to developing nations in regards to reducing CO2 emissions, which partially due to this move are now increasing in the E.U., it also breeds uncertainty as this flip-flopping makes the European continent less predictable for Russia. A clear distinction is apparent as Europe has previously acted shrewdly when conducting business with a well packed bargaining arsenal which ...
The 3rd International Conference coincided with a fairly damp economic climate and unstable political atmosphere across many energy exporting states, thus in all building up naturally not overly optimistic mood. However, in respect to the Russia situation it was far from bleak as instability was actually playing into its favour. Iran’s expulsion from the global political and economic landscape, clashes across Syria and Libya and Iraq’s failure to restart sizeable production – all...
