By Jeffrey Mankoff Adjunct Fellow for Russia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Author, Eurasian Energy Security

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1 Council Special Report Eurasian Energy Security Teaching Notes By Jeffrey Mankoff Adjunct Fellow for Russia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Author, Eurasian Energy Security This Council Special Report, Eurasian Energy Security, examines the role of Russia and the post-soviet states of the Caspian Basin as suppliers of energy to European consumers and discusses strategies for Europe to manage its oil dependence. By analyzing the nature of the relationship between consumers in the European Union and producers in Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, this report helps students understand one of the central factors shaping European foreign policy toward the former Soviet Union. It also discusses ways Europe can mitigate the economic and political consequences of its dependence through closer coordination of policy and greater involvement by the United States. In this way, it helps students understand the economic and political barriers to the adoption of a coherent energy security strategy. The Council on Foreign Relations Academic Outreach Initiative is designed to connect educators and students at the college and graduate level with CFR s research and nonpartisan analysis. For more information, visit

2 This report is suitable for the following types of courses: European politics and foreign policy Energy and energy security Russian foreign policy and the former Soviet Union These teaching notes discuss questions and suggestions for further projects, including class debates, memoranda to the president, and formal analysis, which may be useful for students in any of the courses above. Discussion Questions Courses on European Politics and Foreign Policy 1. Does the European Union need a common strategy for addressing its dependence on energy originating in or controlled by Russia? Does a common European strategy place the interests of some European states above the interests of others? Does it reward those European states that have not taken steps at the national level to either institutionalize relations with Russia or develop alternative sources of energy? 2. Given Russia s dependence on Europe as a customer for its oil and gas, why has the European Union been unable to translate that dependence into foreign policy leverage? 3. Why do European countries approaches to dealing with Russia especially in the field of energy differ so starkly? What role should the European Union itself play in promoting consensus among its member countries? 4. Why has Europe been so unsuccessful at building pipelines that skirt Russian territory? What can the European Union and its member states do better in the future in this regard? 5. Is Europe right to worry about Russian investment in European energy infrastructure, such as pipelines and refineries? In terms of competition and security, does ownership by Russian monopolies like Gazprom differ from ownership by European states monopolies? 6. Why does the European Union need the United States to actively promote energy security in Europe? 7. Compared to Russia, why does the European Union have so little influence with the governments of the Caspian oil and gas producers? 8. Why has the European Union had so much difficulty developing a unified system of energy regulation? What should the goals of such regulation be?

3 9. What is the role of Iran and Turkey in European energy security? Can the European Union use these states to increase its leverage with Moscow? What are the obstacles? Courses on Energy and Energy Security 1. Why is Russian/Caspian oil and gas important to Europe? What options are available for reducing the European Union s dependence? 2. What is the relationship between Europe s dependence on Russian/Caspian oil and gas and environmental policy? What role can addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse emissions have in reducing this dependence? 3. Can nuclear power be part of the solution to dependence on Russian energy? What are the obstacles to greater reliance on nuclear power? 4. How does the decline in oil and gas prices since mid-2008 alter the relationship between producers and consumers of energy? What does it mean for the relationship between Russia and Europe in particular? 5. What are the obstacles to building new pipelines, both on-shore (Nabucco) and off-shore (Nord and South Stream)? Can BTC serve as a model for new pipeline projects, or have circumstances changed too much since the mid-1990s for such an approach to work? 6. Does the Energy Charter Treaty provide a realistic framework for governing the energy trade between Europe and Russia? Why has Russia resisted signing the treaty, and are there steps the West can take to get Moscow to sign on? Courses on Russia and the Former Soviet Union 1. Why is production from Russian oil and gas fields declining? What steps would Moscow need to take to reverse the decline? 2. Why has Russia become increasingly hostile to foreigners investing in production (upstream) and transportation/refining (downstream) operations inside Russia? 3. Why is Russia supporting the construction of the off-shore bypass pipelines Nord Stream and South Stream? What obstacles do these pipelines face? 4. How realistic is Russia s threat to re-route oil and gas sales to Asia if the Europeans fail to respect Russian interests with regard to investment, new pipelines, and influence over transit states? 5. What is the connection between energy prices and Russia s strategy for translating its oil and gas into political leverage?

4 6. How has Russia s relationship with the Caspian energy producers (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) changed since the mid-1990s? Why does Russia remain influential in these states despite the lack of economic benefits from their dependence on Russian pipelines? Further Projects Debate Divide students into small teams and organize a debate on one or more of the issues raised in the report: Should the United States and European Union continue to pursue the Nabucco project as the solution to Europe s dependence on Russian energy? Should the West seek to engage Iran as an alternate energy supplier? Should the European Union take over energy policy from the individual EU member states? Can better political relations with Russia solve the problems created by Europe s dependence on Russian energy? Memorandum to the President Assign students to write a memorandum to the president outlining how the United States can promote energy security in Europe. The memo should outline U.S. objectives, discuss specific steps for attaining them, flag potential obstacles, and assess the likelihood of success. Op-Ed Have students write a newspaper op-ed (600 to 800 words) advocating one specific step for improving European energy security. The target can be the U.S. government, the European Commission, or an individual European government, but the piece should be written for a general audience.

5 Supplementary Materials Baran, Zeno, EU Energy Security: Time to End Russian Leverage, The Washington Quarterly, Autumn Goldman, Marshall, Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia, 2008 (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Hill, Fiona, Beyond Co-Dependency: European Reliance on Russian Energy, U.S.-Europe Analysis Series, Brookings Institution, July LeVine, Steve, The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea, 2007 (New York: Random House). Milov, Vladimir, Can Russia Become an Energy Superpower? Social Sciences, Pascual, Carlos, The Geopolitics of Energy: From Security to Survival, Brookings Institution, January Stulberg, Adam N., Well-Oiled Diplomacy: Strategic Manipulation and Russia s Energy Statecraft in Eurasia, 2007 (Albany: State University of New York Press).