One of the most-read items among German foreign policy experts these days is a 34-year-old book that could offer clues to resolving one of the biggest diplomatic headaches bedeviling US-German relations. The book is Ally Versus Ally: America, Europe, and the Siberian Pipeline Crisis, written in 1987 by a then-obscure law student. Its author, Antony Blinken, is now US secretary of state.
Blinken’s book looks at the row that broke out between the US and Europe in the early 1980s over a new pipeline from the Soviet Union’s vast Siberian gasfields to Europe. In 1981 the Reagan administration imposed sanctions on the project, leading to one of the worst crises in transatlantic relations of the cold war.
History seems to be repeating itself. Russia is building a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2 (NS2), and the US has again imposed sanctions, arguing it will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian energy exports. Just as in 1981, the measures are a bone of contention, with German politicians accusing the US of waging “economic war” on a close ally.
The hope of experts in Berlin is that Blinken’s arrival at the US Department of State could usher in a fresh approach to NS2 — and potentially a resolution of the stand-off. After all, in his book he argued that it was more important for Washington to nurture its allies than dictate their economic relations with Moscow.