Asymmetries

Cambridge University Press eBooks, pp. 123–148

Abstract

Chapter 5 analyzes Russia’s changing gas interdependencies in the post-Soviet space and reveals how economic forces brought about by asymmetrical dependence on Russia have shaped strategic thinking according to the availability of other transnational opportunities for gas trade, and the interpretation of the effects of natural gas interdependence with Russia on their economies and national security. The chapter focused on international economic incentives along with a focus on domestic shifts in identity politics to account for the emergence of new dominant narratives. The case study focused on the differential impact in Belarus and Ukraine of asymmetrical gas dependence on Russia. It showed how policies differed depending on the ideas of those in power. Chapter 5 demonstrates the book’s framework’s applicability to variation across otherwise similar cases and elaborated an alternative explanation to the field’s ongoing realist versus liberal debate on the effects of asymmetrical energy interdependence. Finally, it considers the war in Ukraine and the rewiring of the disparate gas trade dependencies in post-Soviet Eurasia.

Authors 1

1. Morena Skalamera corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University