Atlantic Council

As (somewhat) anticipated, Russia reduced the flow of gas to Ukraine on New Year's Day because of ongoing disputes over prices for 2009 and unpaid bills.  However, unlike the briefer affair in 2006, this spat has evolved into a full-scale crisis with news today that Russia has cut off gas to Europe entirely (see my colleague James Joyner's piece).  I've gathered some multimedia about the current gridlock.

Russia is threatening to cut off gas flows to Ukraine on January 1 if Kyiv does not fork over $2 billion in late payments and finalize new gas prices for 2009.  However, a stop in gas supplies now will be different than it was in January 2006; this time around Ukraine has amassed enough reserves to get it through the winter (as has Germany). 

Gazprom has purchased a controlling 51 percent stake in Serbia's state oil company, NIS.  Equally as significant, Dmitry Medvedev and Serbian president Boris Tadic also signed a declaration of intent to include Serbia in the planned South Stream pipeline that will supply gas to Europe. 

The National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World” report considers likely scenarios for nearly all strategic global issues, including nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and climate change.  Climate change in particular is an issue that we will be faced with on a daily basis two decades from now.

The 2007 U.S.-China Energy Security Cooperation Dialogue was held in a period when a broad range of activities and policy recommendations have been proposed to address global energy security and environmental issues. The Dialogue identified a number of further steps that China and the United States could cooperatively undertake to accelerate developments.  

Today, hunger, poverty, and desperation remain prevalent throughout much of the developing world. If we are to live in a 21st century more prone to peace than violence, the developed countries must move expeditiously to address the developing countries’ requirements for energy, water, and agricultural production.