E.U. energy security and the eastern partners : competitive or complementary the role of the Turkish and Russian pipelines?

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of the Russian and Turkish pipelines to the European Union’s energy security. In an age of emerging energy challenges and constant redrawing of the supply and transit maps, the geopolitical energy implications are of high importance. The European Union with its strong economy and heavy energy demand is a major player in the international energy arena. For the purposes of the paper I hypothesized that the Russian and Turkish pipelines are competitive to each other and complementary with regards to EU energy security, in the sense that the EU can decide from where it draws its resources. My hypothesis was based on the realist school of thought and was examined through a comparative analysis between the Russian and Turkish pipelines. To measure the significance of the current and projected pipelines as well as the energy relationship between Russia, Turkey and the European Union I employed four codes during my research conceptualization; pipelines (their number and performance), national gains (political and economic gains for Russia and Turkey in utilizing their pipelines), political will (of Russia and Turkey in promoting their pipelines to the EU market) and ways of influence (of the European Union towards Russian and Turkish energy policy). The result of my research affirms the complexity of the energy relations between the three shareholders and supports my hypothesis. An issue that was beyond the scope and focus of the current paper but was presented as extremely important for further academic studies is the role of the United States in affecting EU energy security policy and in unilaterally supporting pipeline projects across the regional chessboard to promote its own political goals and ambitions.