Comments on: Russia, Europe, Turkmenistan - whose interests value the most? http://turkmenistan.neweurasia.net/2007/10/31/russia-europe-turkmenistan-whose-interests-value-the-most/ Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 5 Jul 2008 01:26:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 By: Abdulgamid http://turkmenistan.neweurasia.net/2007/10/31/russia-europe-turkmenistan-whose-interests-value-the-most/#comment-34785 Abdulgamid Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:40:07 +0000 http://turkmenistan.neweurasia.net/2007/10/31/russia-europe-turkmenistan-whose-interests-value-the-most/#comment-34785 “Russia’s inevitable re-emergence as geopolitical power has unsettled the West because we wanted a client state led by a Boris Yeltsin-like political class. Western leaders branded Russian behaviour as unacceptable when Moscow interrupted natural-gas supplies to Ukraine. The only acceptable behaviour, apparently, was that the Russian taxpayer should have continued to subsidize Ukraine’s natural-gas consumers.” Newsweek October 22 2007 Quotation from Economist on this entire issue would be more respectable but I didn’t find any “Russia’s inevitable re-emergence as geopolitical power has unsettled the West because we wanted a client state led by a Boris Yeltsin-like political class. Western leaders branded Russian behaviour as unacceptable when Moscow interrupted natural-gas supplies to Ukraine. The only acceptable behaviour, apparently, was that the Russian taxpayer should have continued to subsidize Ukraine’s natural-gas consumers.”
Newsweek October 22 2007

Quotation from Economist on this entire issue would be more respectable but I didn’t find any

]]> By: Andrew http://turkmenistan.neweurasia.net/2007/10/31/russia-europe-turkmenistan-whose-interests-value-the-most/#comment-34782 Andrew Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:44:56 +0000 http://turkmenistan.neweurasia.net/2007/10/31/russia-europe-turkmenistan-whose-interests-value-the-most/#comment-34782 Just one point on Peter’s response. A critical difference between US oil and gas interests and Russian interests is the extent to which private and public agents act in concert. Western policy makers can formulate all the policy they want, but in the end it is the companies themselves that must make the contracts and extract the resources. In the former Soviet States, and to an extent China as well, the degree of confluence between the state and the oil/gas industry is much closer and even supervised. And, so, efforts to link “western-centric” values of democracy and human rights (and one could argue that, in this day and age, it is difficult to claim those as distinctly “western” values) have only so much traction. While Russian efforts to link their oil and gas industry with any larger geo-political agenda are more viable and, in the end, effective. Just one point on Peter’s response.

A critical difference between US oil and gas interests and Russian interests is the extent to which private and public agents act in concert. Western policy makers can formulate all the policy they want, but in the end it is the companies themselves that must make the contracts and extract the resources.

In the former Soviet States, and to an extent China as well, the degree of confluence between the state and the oil/gas industry is much closer and even supervised.

And, so, efforts to link “western-centric” values of democracy and human rights (and one could argue that, in this day and age, it is difficult to claim those as distinctly “western” values) have only so much traction. While Russian efforts to link their oil and gas industry with any larger geo-political agenda are more viable and, in the end, effective.

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