Reference no: EM132865887

Question 1: In your review of energy's vital role in economic and political power, you have seen how energy can be used to tie nations together, establishing influence and future utility as a political weapon. In the specific case of Russia, how did the Russians use oil and natural gas after World War II to bind Eastern Europe to the common cause of a Russian-led political system in the Eastern bloc? How have the Russians used oil and natural gas to continue to influence Eastern and Western Europe since the 1970s? Is Russia's energy-based influence a permanent feature of European politics, or might wind, solar, and electromobility systems based on their power generation set Western Europeans free, if not Eastern Europeans?