Impacts of Russia’s Energy Dominance to Europe
According to what we’ve learned in this topic, Russia has dominated Europe’s area of energy supply. According to a Washington Post, in 2018, the events that happened made it clear that the president of Russia Vladimir Putin had proven not to be a friend of America. Friendship is what builds nations, but looking at Putin, he aims to make sure that he gains economically, politically, and militarily. Europe’s reliance on these resources is what strengthens his position.
America’s President Trump made a NATO summit in July 2018. Unfortunately, he spoke undiplomatic, where there were diplomats were. The reliance of Europe on the natural gas undermines NATO security. In Trump’s statement, he wanted the United States to start supplying natural gas to Europe to loosen or weaken Putin’s grasp to Europe. Europe’s demand for natural gas is increasing, and Russia has already gained dominance in supply.
The increase has made Russia plan to build a new pipeline to send natural gas to Germany. The original plan will make the region even more susceptible to coercion and control, which is wrong. When a country such as Russia, which is aggressive and opportunistic gains control, it gains monopolistic powers. Putin is more likely to threaten and extort other countries. When Putin looks at natural gas, he thinks of power and money. So it is in America’s interest, and it’s allied to reduce their dependence on Russian energy. Through this, the NATO alliance becomes strong and reduces the reliance on Russian power.