Let’s start with this premise: Ukraine has always been a vital part of Russia’s existence.
As Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote in 1998, “Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.”
The ties between the two have been bolstered by Ukraine’s near-complete dependence on Russian energy, particularly natural gas, which Russia has sold at inflated levels for years.
Four months ago, Chevron and the government of Ukraine signed a $10 billion, 50-year agreement that allowed for the sharing of shale gas production in the western part of the country.
This came on the heels of a similar deal with Royal Dutch Shell earlier last year.
For the first time in its history, Ukraine can proclaim the possibility of energy independence.
Not surprising, since the onset of the shale revolution that began here in America, Russia has been the loudest opponent of hydraulic fracturing.
RT- Russia Television- is the global propaganda arm of the Russian state.
You can watch it in most hotels abroad. You’ll find that nearly every newscast has a story about the evils of shale gas exploration.
While the situation in Ukraine has many dimensions, it may be that Mother Russia realizes the “creative destruction” unleashed by the shale revolution will leave many in its wake, including maybe even herself.
