... cheap money. This, coupled with low interest rates across the whole eurozone, fuelled credit and real estate bubbles in the USA and Europe, which burst in 2008-9 amid the global ‘credit crunch’.
At first, this led to a pan-European banking ... ... Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Moscow is likely to stop looking West and instead go East – as soaring trade levels with China already foreshadow.
However, Russia remains a European power – part of Europe’s non-West alongside Turkey ...
... dispel some peoples worry that Russia's Chinese neighbour could be a threat, while also calling for the final end of USA's hegemony (See: SCMP). Albeit, it is hard to see China not taking the lead regionally and globally in the future as it clearly dominates, particularly in the BRICs (economically ... ... its customers compete against each other (See: Reuters). However, on the brightside Gazprom agreed with China in regards to long-term contracts, thus allowing it to develop the riskier fields as export was more guaranteed. At first, I was sceptical about ...
... the Middle East, aside from this being a double-standard as it tends to avoid Russian long-term contracts by saying short-term hub trading without a fixed price is the future... ... Eastern Expansion Project needs particular attention; for instance in respect to gas, China opposes paying over $290 per 1000 cubic meters, which is $110 cheaper per measure... ... not changed in the last decade. The decision must be well calculated, yet quick, as USA has almost achieved independence from energy imports due to shale which could supply...