I’ve said all along that we need to cut a deal with Putin and jointly exploit Siberia. And drill all over Alaska too, moose be damned. We get about half our oil from OPEC countries. We should work to move that as close to 100% as possible, and launch an economic campaign to devastate the members of OPEC. Economic warfare can be very amusing if it’s done right, and then lets see what the price of oil is. I paid $2.15/gallon the other day; in 1999 I could get gas for $0.69/gallon.
I don’t know why I didn’t catch this, but I have to disagree with you here.
Politically Putin moves against US interests, while Bush and Putin may be buddy buddy, the rest of the administration has enough forsight to support ex-Soviet republics into the pro-Western camp (i.e Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan) which has brought up the issue of devolution in the Russian Federation again. Putin has been and always has been quite active in foreign policies that try to re-extend Moscow’s influence which are often against US interests (which is a good thing for the Russians, but not for American interests and the interest of some neighbors).
Furthermore, as one whose ancestery hails from one of the many Siberian minorities, Soviet and Russian expeditions into Siberia are very inefficient. I find that American oil companies, while not being angels themselves, hold much more social responsibility and are much more efficient and cleaner in their workings. The Russian companies on the other hand have always been messy, sloppy and inefficient. Despite claims of being able to drill in near polar conditions, they are not that good. Keep in mind that Siberian oil will never replace the quality of Gulf oil.. Siberian oil involves drilling through layer upon layer of permafrost, and then transporting the sulfuric oil out via shaky infrastructure that usually doesn’t exist (most of the Soviet Era infrastructure is in the southern half of the country, i.e trans-Siberian). Also the harsh conditions often reduce the life of pipelines, which are often leaking, as well as requiring expensive labor. People are less productive in the cold.
Also, unlike Alaska, there ain’t just moose in these regions. There are alot of people who rely on the land on subsistence livelyhood i.e Komi’s, Nenets, Khants, etc. Because of the damage and lack of a future there, its why we moved to Norway.
Now as for an alternative, you should simply look to the Turkic World.. which includes Turkey, all of the ~Stans (except Pakistan, Tajikstan, and Afghanistan, as they are non Turkic).. and if the US supports devolution.. Western China, Turkic republics in the Russian volga region, and a large one in the Russian Far East. These regions hold tremendous resources, especially energy.. and have been traditional enemies of Persians, Russians and the Chinese. One can’t help but wonder that they’d make the perfect ally for the Americans.
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