Gas wars: determining dependency on Russian natural gas among EU member states

Gas wars: determining dependency on Russian natural gas among EU member states Public Deposited

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Creator

Pleasants, Stephanie Page
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science

Abstract

From the construction of pipelines to a lack of an EU energy policy to the development of alternative energy sources, EU member states have had a difficult time judging where they stand on Russian natural gas, which has raised many issues over energy security and interdependency. Therefore, the main question of this thesis is to determine to what extent EU member states are dependent on Russia for their natural gas resources. Using the countries of the Weimar Triangle (France, Germany, and Poland) as a case study, I look at the varying relationships between these three actors and Russia as well as their distinct energy make-up. And by analyzing additional energy sources, I conclude that while member states altogether are not heavily dependent on Russian natural gas, it is necessary to consider the gas dependency of individual member states as well as that of Russia.

Date of publication