EU-Russia energy chessboard: from interdependence to conflict

Within the emerging geopolitical frameworks of the global energy market, the concept of energy security has become a vital part of state strategies for implementation, both by consuming and producing countries. Based on the trade relations between consuming and producing actors, one of the dominant ideologies in the political sciences (neoliberal interdependence theory) argue that economic interdependence between actors leads to co-operation on the bases of mutual benefits which decreases the emergence of conflicts. This thesis intends to shed a light on EU-Russia energy relations, specifically in terms of natural gas linked to energy security of EU as the biggest energy consumer and Russia as the biggest supplier of natural gas to EU. By comparing the energy policy strategies, current energy statistics and emerged interdependence, this thesis argues that the securitization of EU energy (gas) policy is experiencing serious challenges due to (increasing) European dependence on...Show moreWithin the emerging geopolitical frameworks of the global energy market, the concept of energy security has become a vital part of state strategies for implementation, both by consuming and producing countries. Based on the trade relations between consuming and producing actors, one of the dominant ideologies in the political sciences (neoliberal interdependence theory) argue that economic interdependence between actors leads to co-operation on the bases of mutual benefits which decreases the emergence of conflicts. This thesis intends to shed a light on EU-Russia energy relations, specifically in terms of natural gas linked to energy security of EU as the biggest energy consumer and Russia as the biggest supplier of natural gas to EU. By comparing the energy policy strategies, current energy statistics and emerged interdependence, this thesis argues that the securitization of EU energy (gas) policy is experiencing serious challenges due to (increasing) European dependence on Russian gas resources which have not resulted in further co-operation but rising tensions. The main argument of this thesis therefore is that the nature of EU-Russia gas relations is too complex to be explained by the optimism of mutual interdependence between these actorsShow less

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EU-Russia energy chessboard: from interdependence to conflict