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> No one paying even a little bit of attention thought “can’t” Maybe that's true in the abstract, but how did those in power act based on this obvious threat?
by TillE 4y ago
> No one paying even a little bit of attention thought “can’t”
Maybe that's true in the abstract, but how did those in power act based on this obvious threat?
Europe completely refused to even begin to diversify its natural gas sources until this year, even though that obviously should have happened after the annexation of Crimea at the very latest. They invited catastrophe by relying on Russian energy.
In practice, they didn't take the threat seriously. They thought it wouldn't happen, they gambled quite a lot on that outcome.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> Maybe that's true in the abstract, but how did those in power act based on this obvious threat? Again, it wasn’t an obvious threat, not because Russia lacked capacity or will but because it already controlled Ukraine via a puppet government. That changing, and very quickly from the emergence of a significant protest movement, was the unpredicted wildcard. > Europe completely refused to even begin to diversify its natural gas sources until this year, Baltic Pipe, a major component of the diversification effort, was identified as an EC interest in 2013, completed a feasibility study in 2016, had capacity agreements in place in 2018, and went online this September. Infrastructure isn’t something that pops into place when you snap your fingers.