Out of Gas?: Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and the Changing Geopolitics of Natural Gas

Curiously, a gas war was averted at the apogee of the 2013/4 Ukrainian crisis. Russia, Ukraine, and European consumer states not only refrained from precipitous shut-offs that marred conflicts in 2006 and 2009, but deepened mutual energy ties as the crisis unfolded. This article highlights shortcomings with the contemporary debate over Russia’s energy weapon made evident by the mixed diplomacy and outcomes in these successive gas crises. It then probes change to the roles, postures, and relationships among key stakeholders embodied by an emerging Europe-Eurasian gas network. The latter arguably upends classic realpolitik assumptions about pipeline politics, while illustrates how Russia is down but not out amid transformation in the regional gas landscape.