Gazprom’s disruptions of natural gas and oil to Central Europe in 2006/2007 increased awareness in Europe and the United States regarding Moscow’s success in using its energy resources as political leverage in Europe and to undermine the new three democracies that most recently emerged from decades of Kremlin control. Russia’s recent sharp increases in natural gas prices to Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Armenia and Moldova, and its control over key European gas pipeline systems, raise fresh concerns about Russia’s foreign economic policies and the security implications for Europe. Russia’s energy strategy also raises the stakes regarding America’s own growing dependency on energy imports, and should lead the U.S. to question expectations that Russian supplies of gas and oil will contribute to America’s energy security.
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