Are the Europeans getting tired of being America’s poodle? From Stephen Kinzer at The Boston Globe:
President Biden faces a test: What to do when one of our closest allies gets tighter with Russia?
High-stakes global drama is unfolding on the seabed beneath the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea. It is shaping up as the biggest clash between Europe and the United States since the end of World War II.
This underwater confrontation foreshadows the coming century. European countries are steadily less subservient to Washington. They see their future elsewhere.
The project that threatens to cause this crackup is a gas pipeline. There may have been a time when laying pipelines was a straightforward matter that concerned only surveyors, but today, pipeline routes shape the global economy and world politics. That’s why the battle over this one has become so intense. It would bring natural gas from rich fields in Russia to energy-hungry Germany. Both countries consider it a good deal.
The United States disagrees. A pipeline connecting Russia and Germany would indeed benefit both countries. There’s the rub: Many in Washington bitterly oppose anything that would benefit Russia.
