The Bridge, Thane Gustafson
The Bridge, Thane Gustafson
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The Bridge
Natural Gas in a Redivided Europe

Author: Thane Gustafson

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 18 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/31/2020


Synopsis

Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet empire, the West faces a new era of East-West tensions. Any vision of a modern Russia integrated into the world economy and aligned in peaceful partnership with a reunited Europe has abruptly vanished.

Two opposing narratives vie to explain the strategic future of Europe, one geopolitical and one economic, and both center on the same resource: natural gas. In The Bridge, Thane Gustafson, an expert on Russian oil and gas, argues that the political rivalries that capture the lion's share of media attention must be viewed alongside multiple business interests and differences in economic ideologies. With a dense network of pipelines linking Europe and Russia, natural gas serves as a bridge that unites the region through common interests.

Tracking the economic and political role of natural gas through several countries—Russia and Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway—The Bridge details both its history and its likely future. As Gustafson suggests, there are reasons for optimism, but whether the "gas bridge" can ultimately survive mounting geopolitical tensions and environmental challenges remains to be seen.

About Thane Gustafson

Thane Gustafson is professor of government at Georgetown University and executive director of IHS Markit. His books include Crisis amid Plenty: The Politics of Soviet Energy under Brezhnev and Gorbachev, Capitalism Russian-Style, and Wheel of Fortune: The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dhruv

Overall a really good book. The first half of the book though, could be compressed. The second half of the book is very well written, very informative, and goes into just the right level of detail. Enjoyed the book.......more

Educational on history of gas in Europe, and has good story-telling. A bit repetitive, especially in the latter half. Thane Gustafson is clearly an expert on the subject and digs out elusive historical angles that add a lot of context. He does however have a certain narrative that he’s actively tryi......more

Goodreads review by Daniel

A well researched book about the story, status and future of gas industry and its implication on overall energy policy. As the share of gas consumption is expected to only increase from 20 to 25 per cent in the future, establishing, negotiating and managing contracts as well as waging exploration is......more

Goodreads review by Natali

Sooooo dense. A super ambitious book. In fact, it could have been three books but I can see why the author wrote it as one. He is trying to make a case for how important Russian/Europe energy relationships are and he gives a very detailed history of this. This was written before the war in Ukraine a......more

Goodreads review by Uuree

Essential book if one wants to understand Soviet Union/Russia-EU/Germany energy relations from economic and geopolitical point of view. Important points: For Russia gas and Gazprom will always be of geopolitical importance, thus always assuring Kremlin intervention in strategic decisions; for German......more