FF: "I think he’s done a magnificent job in rallying the whole NATO alliance to oppose Putin by, for example, diverting liquified natural gas supplies to Europe so they could endure a Russian cut-off of gas in the event of a war." I haven't seen any stories on such diversion actually happening. The just-released EIA proposal for sharply reducing Europe's dependency on Russian gas says that they actually have slack *import* capacity...which was a little surprising to me....and that the constraint is the availability of the gas from exporting countries. (and shipping to transport it, of course)
FF: "He’s probably the person most responsible for the amazing change in German foreign policy: the Germans have abandoned 40 years of outreach to Russia, their hallmark through Angela Merkel’s tenure."
I think the change has more to do with *fear*...fear of getting their energy supplies cut off, and fear of Russia on the move, the latter fear probably having particular resonance in Germany.
Yes, I think it's a bit of a stretch to credit Biden with any part of Germany's about-face. It's no accident that it's happening (1) under Scholz, and (2) after the invasion of Ukraine. But I will at least credit Biden with somehow not finding a way to screw this part up.
I read this morning that Iran stalked out of the nuclear negotiations, which I assume is good news.
3 comments:
Big delta between FF and NF on Biden's role.
FF: "I think he’s done a magnificent job in rallying the whole NATO alliance to oppose Putin by, for example, diverting liquified natural gas supplies to Europe so they could endure a Russian cut-off of gas in the event of a war." I haven't seen any stories on such diversion actually happening. The just-released EIA proposal for sharply reducing Europe's dependency on Russian gas says that they actually have slack *import* capacity...which was a little surprising to me....and that the constraint is the availability of the gas from exporting countries. (and shipping to transport it, of course)
FF: "He’s probably the person most responsible for the amazing change in German foreign policy: the Germans have abandoned 40 years of outreach to Russia, their hallmark through Angela Merkel’s tenure."
I think the change has more to do with *fear*...fear of getting their energy supplies cut off, and fear of Russia on the move, the latter fear probably having particular resonance in Germany.
Yes, I think it's a bit of a stretch to credit Biden with any part of Germany's about-face. It's no accident that it's happening (1) under Scholz, and (2) after the invasion of Ukraine. But I will at least credit Biden with somehow not finding a way to screw this part up.
I read this morning that Iran stalked out of the nuclear negotiations, which I assume is good news.
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