An Energy Strategy to Defeat Russia?

Chris, Melanie, and Zack consider the economic measures taken by the United States and Europe to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, especially those pertaining to oil and natural gas. To what extent are these policies responsible for rising gasoline prices? Can other measures be taken to replace Russian oil on the global market? Or should Western governments also employ demand restrictions, including possibly compulsory measures to discourage or prevent energy usage? And what political price should democratically elected governments be willing to pay in order to affirm the moral and strategic imperative of defeating Russia’s aggression against Ukraine? Grievances for Columbia’s Jeffrey Sachs who claimed that COVID originated in a U.S. lab, for super-virtuous people who take to Twitter on the Fourth of July to talk about how horrible the United States is, and toward self-absorbed TikTokers known as “Gentleminions.” Attapeople to FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and to the Quincy Institute for a smart report on defending Asia, and an atta-thing for all the ways that computers make our lives better (until they kill us).

Episode Reading:

• Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman, “Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion,” International Security 44:1 (Summer 2019).
• Ashish Valentine, “Are sanctions actually hurting Russia’s economy? Here’s what you need to know,” NPR, July 1, 2022.
• Gregory Brew, “Oil Prices Will Likely Rise to $150 a Barrel Soon,” Foreign Policy, June 8, 2022.
• Greg Ip, “Gas Prices Test American Appetite for New Cold War with Russia,” The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2022.
• Emily Holland And Marco Giuli, “The Urgent Case for Energy Austerity,” War on the Rocks, March 24, 2022.
• Erielle Sudario, “Cinemas are now canceling screenings of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ over Gentleminions trend,” MSN, July 4, 2022.
• Catherine Rampell, “Democrats Had an Opportunity for a Major Political Realignment. They Blew It,” The Washington Post, June 23, 2022.
• “Biden Launches $6 Billion Effort to Save America’s Distressed Nuclear Plants,” The Guardian, April 19, 2022.
• “Facing Record Inflation, Biden Chides Exxon, Oil Companies for Profits,” Reuters, June 11, 2022.
• Myles McCormick, “US Oil Producers Ignore Biden’s Rallying Call to Drill,” Financial Times, June 11, 2022.
• “Big Oil’s Diverging Bets on the Future of Energy,” Economist, December 16, 2020.
• Scott Lincicome, “Fueling Uncertainty,” CATO, June 22, 2022.
• Michael Shellenberger, Tweet, July 4, 2022.
• Rachel Esplin Odell, Eric Heginbotham, John Culver, Eric Gomez, Brian Killough, Steven Kosiak, Jessica J. Lee, Brad Martin, Mike Mochizuki, and Michael Swaine, “Active Denial: A Roadmap to a More Effective, Stabilizing, and Sustainable U.S. Defense Strategy in Asia,” Quincy Paper No. 8, June 22, 2022.

Image: Ninara, Creative Commons