Conclusion

Cambridge University Press eBooks, pp. 149–162

Abstract

Chapter 6 summarizes the evidence and then asks whether this longue-durée reexamination of the ups and downs in natural gas interdependence provides insights into the recent collapse of decades of EU-Russia gas cooperation amid war in Ukraine. It considers how dominant narratives may help explain why Putin decided to invade Ukraine at considerable commercial and political cost. The chapter suggests solutions to three puzzles: (1) Does reconstructing Eurasian gas ties across time and space and uncovering sources of change contribute something new to an understanding of Russia’s gas interdependence with a host of neighboring countries? (2) Does this reexamination provide insight into the subsequent collapse of decades of EU-Russia gas cooperation amid war in Ukraine? (3) Does this reconstruction and reexamination of gas interdependencies across Eurasia offer anything new to explain puzzling political outcomes in dyads where economic interdependence is high? Finally, the chapter places the book’s central arguments in an International Political Economic perspective, considering pathways to energy cooperation across Eurasia under various circumstances, especially energy transition.

Authors 1

1. Morena Skalamera corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University