Free Republic

Is Russia -- the world's leading producer of natural gas -- preparing to create a gas equivalent of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)? The possibility of such a cartel has been discussed by Russian policymakers for years. But a "memorandum of understanding" signed between Russia and Algeria on August 4, which significantly calls for coordinated gas prices, could perhaps be a move in this direction. PRAGUE, August 14, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The idea of a gas OPEC was first floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2002. The idea was supported by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, but was...

The West’s need for Russia’s energy and cooperation regarding Iran, Iraq, China, and the “War on Terrorism” will likely lower the standard demanded for a full membership in the G8 group, to allow Moscow’s ascendance to the rich nations’ club, at the St. Petersburg meeting in July. “In the six years since he pledged to uphold democracy as a 'dictatorship of law,' President Vladimir Putin has increased the role of the police and security services in governing Russia and wielded the power of the courts for political ends,” says the Director of the London based Foreign Policy Centre, Stephen Twig....

December 2009: After weeks of rioting in Turkmenistan, President Saparmurat Niyazov flees. Moscow accuses Washington of fomenting a coup, and Russian and Iranian troops seize control of the capital, Ashgabat, to secure the country's gas supplies. The U.S. president, furious that U.S. protests have been ignored, mobilizes troops based in nearby Azerbaijan. At a crisis meeting in Moscow, Gas OPEC member nations Russia, Iran, Algeria, Libya, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agree to cut all gas supplies to Western Europe in response. On Jan. 1, 2010, the lights go out. However unlikely such a nightmare scenario may seem, it's precisely the sort...