Fifth Generation

Russia, the USA, and the EU are against each other again. Russia as part of the Soviet Union and the United States were in a Cold War for 50 years in the latter part of the twentieth century in a political war between Capitalism and Communism. The Iron Curtain fell but the USA and Russia are still in competition for European economic dominance. Today, they are fighting primarily over energy resources.

According to a Washington Post article by Adrian Karatnycky,Russia has a history of using its Natural gas and oil resources to put political pressure on European countries like the Ukraine and Belarus. Therefore the USA and the EU are trying to find alternatives to the Russian monopoly and thus diversify the market. Central Asia is caught up in the middle of this economic battle.

Russia is working with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to expand Russian control over their energy resources. At the same time, Turkmenistan is working with Western companies like Chevron and allowing the company to operate.

Azerbaijan is working with the EU along with Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania to find new ways to deliver gas and oil bypassing Russia. There is a propsed project called Nabucco, which would link Azerbaijan’s oil with Turkey and then all the way to Austria. Eventually they could use these new proposed pipelines to bring in oil from other Central Asian nations.

Russia has come up with their own plan. On June 23, Russia and Italy agreed to build a pipeline from Russia to Southern Europe via The Black Sea. That is why it is so important that Russia does not lose its Caucasian territory.

Energy diversification is important to many former Soviet Block nations who no longer want to give Russia political power. It is coming up in EU meetings and will be an important issue in the upcoming presidential election. Central Asian nations, rich with energy resources will play a huge role in this battle for energy power in the European market.

Another great article here