A political evaluation of the hydrocarbon trade between the European Union, Russia and the USA

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the political, strategic, and economic background of the hydrocarbon crisis that led European Union countries to be dragged into the war between Russia and Ukraine that began at the beginning of 2022. In this study, Stephen Walt's balance of threat theory is used methodologically to analyze the crisis. As a result of the conflict, the European Union countries, through NATO, which was consolidated by the US, have imposed economic sanctions on Russia and have brought themselves into economic difficulties in terms of energy supply. In particular, Germany, which has begun to experience difficulties in energy supply, which it needs for its developed industry, has started to be indirectly economically pressured by the USA. The energy crisis experienced by the European Union countries has two dimensions. The level of threat posed by the economic and political dimensions of this crisis differs.