Europe’s Gas Crunch Isn’t All Good News For Producers
Yes, Putin is getting a major short-term advantage. But green energy is the future, and spikes in fossil-fuel prices may keep exporters from preparing for the transition.
Cooking with gas.
Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./Bloomberg
It has been a good couple of months for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The opportunities for enhancing Russia’s “great power status” — long Putin’s strategy for shoring up support at home — are coming faster than he can take advantage of them.
In the past, his strategy has often involved taking big risks, such as the annexation of Crimea or military involvement in Syria. Yet in recent weeks, the geopolitical gods are delivering Putin manna from heaven. While this moment brings the U.S. and its allies warnings about Russian near-term behavior, it also delivers messages going beyond Russia that are missed at their peril.