№69: The Power to Influence Europe? Russia’s Grand Gas Strategy
№69: The Power to Influence Europe? Russia’s Grand Gas Strategy

Author(s): Zuzanna Nowak, Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz
Subject(s): Supranational / Global Economy, Governance, Environmental and Energy policy, International relations/trade, Geopolitics
Published by: PISM Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
Keywords: Russian Federation; gas strategy; energy policy; Russia’s energy export; energy resources; European Union; Russia’s influence on EU;
Summary/Abstract: As most of Russia’s energy exports go to the European Union, both players are strongly interdependent. For Russia, energy resources, especially gas, are viewed as a tool to project power beyond its borders. However, Russia’s room for “gas manoeuvre” is constrained by its own capacities, the gas strategies of other players, and the EU’s ability to project its regulatory power. As Russia’s relations with Europe go beyond purely economic practices, and inevitably have geopolitical overtones, Europe should, in the short-term, try to limit the damage caused by the current application of Russian grand strategy; in the long-term, it should find out how to influence it, to its benefit.

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