Turning the Russian tap

Russian gas, and the power it gives Moscow, has become one of the main issues in international politics. Last year, Moscow used its ability to control Ukraine’s gas supply to interfere in Kiev politics. As European leaders huffed and puffed over Russia’s invasion of Georgia, the threat of having gas supplies cut off to parts of Europe explained the EU’s failure to develop a common policy approach towards Moscow. And now, Russia is leading Iran and Qatar – the world’s two biggest holders of natural gas after Russia – to form a “gas OPEC,” an organization modeled after the oil cartel.

Showing what hold this “gas weapon” has over our imagination the last episode of the BBC series Spooks featured a Russian plot against Britain and a double-agent weighing up his loyalties by thinking through Britain’s dependence on gas.