Deconstructing the “energy weapon”: Russia's threat to Europe as case study

Stegen, Karen Smith

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.07.051

Cited by 106 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…the 'energy weapon'), or threaten to do so, for extortion of the weaker party and to gain leverage in political disputes [13]. However, the effectiveness of this behaviour has been questioned on the grounds that the states targeted seldom acquiesce [43]. Another option for the exporter is to subsidise energy bills below the market price in return for political loyalty of the importer.…”

Section: International Tradementioning

confidence: 96%

A resource curse for renewables? Conflict and cooperation in the renewable energy sector

Månsson

2015

Energy Research & Social Science

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a b s t r a c tPrevious studies have shown that fossil energy systems can be a conflict objective, means or cause. This study explores how renewable energy (RE) systems can interact with conflicts and to what extent the risk of different conflicts may change. Renewable resources, in contrast to conventional fossil resources, are more difficult to control in time and space. RE systems depend on exploiting flows rather than extracting stocks, are geographically more evenly distributed, and the energy density is lower. As a consequence, economic and geopolitical incentives for states to engage in conflicts to secure or control RE resources are low. However, increased competition for land increases the risk of local conflicts that involve non-state actors, since it can reduce actor's ecological space. Distribution and use of RE can be designed to have a low risk of interacting with conflicts, but the success of this depends on the technologies implemented and other sustainability policies. Increased dependence on control systems used to manage variable electricity production increase exposure to cyber threats while as small-scale distributed generation reduce incentives to attack the system since such systems are less sensitive to attacks.

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Section: International Tradementioning

confidence: 96%

A resource curse for renewables? Conflict and cooperation in the renewable energy sector

Månsson

2015

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…The pipeline was a blow to Russia, which had vehemently opposed it (Smith Stegen, 2011). Because of US lobbying for the pipeline, it has been referred to as 'America's most important Eurasian strategic initiative since the Soviet collapse' (Bremmer, 2003).…”

Section: Russian-azerbaijan Energy Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[… ] Energy resources will flow from the west and goods will flow both eastwards and westwards, with China as the central hub' (Smith Stegen, 2015).…”

Section: Why Does China Look To Caspian Producers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Outcomes and strategies in the ‘New Great Game’: China and the Caspian states emerge as winners

Stegen

Kusznir

2015

Journal of Eurasian Studies

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a b s t r a c tThe decades-long struggle for control over oil and natural gas resources, infrastructure and influence in the Caspian region has been referred to as the 'New Great Game', with Europe, China, the US and Russia typically cited as the main combatants. We explore recent developments and aver that, if present trends continue, Europe will have access to Azerbaijan's resources, China to those of the East Caspian states, the US will stay commercially and strategically engaged, and Russia's influence will (continue to) diminish. How did this unexpected turn of events arise? We examine China's dominance and argue that the foreign policies of the US and Russia e within the region and even further abroad e have inadvertently driven the East Caspian states and China towards each other. Wary of potential maritime chokepoints in the Pacific, China feels strongly compelled to shore up resources and influence in the Caspian region. In part because of Russia's intransigence regarding the Caspian Sea's status, the East Caspian states e faced with constrained access to the West e have turned to China as an alternative market and counterbalance to Russia.

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“…In Europe, energy dependence is often perceived as a symmetric alignment, in which both the EU and Russia are dependent on the continuation of trade relations. This does not necessary apply to the situation with individual countries or companies, which can be subject to occasional or systemic use of the "energy weapon", i.e., differing pricing or contractual terms [56,57].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finland’s Dependence on Russian Energy—Mutually Beneficial Trade Relations or an Energy Security Threat?

et al. 2018

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Studies on energy security in the context of relations between European Union (EU) and Russia tend to focus on cases, with an open conflict related to supply, such as “hard” energy weapons, or on only one fuel, often natural gas. However, there is a need to understand the long-term impacts that energy relations have politically, economically and physically, and their linkages between resilience, sustainability and security. We analyse the Finnish-Russian energy relations as a case study, as they are characterised by a non-conflictual relationship. To assess this complex relationship, we apply the interdependence framework to analyse both the energy systems and energy strategies of Finland and Russia, and the energy security issues related to the notable import dependence on one supplier. Moreover, we analyse the plausible development of the energy trade between the countries in three different energy policy scenarios until 2040. The findings of the article shed light on how the trends in energy markets, climate change mitigation and broader societal and political trends could influence Russia’s energy trade relations with countries, such as Finland. Our analysis shows that Finland’s dependence on primary energy imports does not pose an acute energy security threat in terms of sheer supply, and the dependence is unlikely to worsen in the future. However, due to the difficulty in anticipating societal, political, and economic trends, there are possible developments that could affect Finland.

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Deconstructing the “energy weapon”: Russia's threat to Europe as case study

Cited by 106 publications

References 8 publications

A resource curse for renewables? Conflict and cooperation in the renewable energy sector

A resource curse for renewables? Conflict and cooperation in the renewable energy sector

Outcomes and strategies in the ‘New Great Game’: China and the Caspian states emerge as winners

Finland’s Dependence on Russian Energy—Mutually Beneficial Trade Relations or an Energy Security Threat?

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