The West Siberian Pipeline Crisis

The 1980s West Siberian pipeline crisis was a major Cold War geopolitical dispute between the United States and its European allies over the construction of a pipeline to supply gas from Siberia to Western Europe, dubbed ‘the largest commercial transaction in history between East and West’. The US feared the pipeline would increase European dependency on Soviet energy and provide revenue to help prop up Moscow’s military power, whilst the West European allies saw it as a way to diversify energy sources away from the Middle East. The US imposed economic measures, attempting to prevent European companies from taking part in the construction, leading to a major transatlantic row. This volume examines this complex and multifaceted crisis from international and domestic angles. The contributors provide fresh perspectives from each of the key national actors—Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the US and USSR—as well as from NATO. It highlights the differing perceptions that the US Administration and West European governments had of Soviet capabilities and vulnerabilities, and their deep-seated differences over Cold War strategy. It shows how US Cold War policy was at odds with Western Europe’s search for energy security after the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, and how the dispute exposed the limits of US hegemony and the shifting balance of power between the US and European allies within the Alliance. Making use of recently released archival sources, this collection explores new dimensions of the crisis, making it an important read for scholars of diplomatic history, Cold War history, and international relations.

Effie G. H. Pedaliu was a Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, in the UK, having previously held academic posts at the London School of Economics, Kings College London and the University of the West of England. Richard Smith is Principal Historian at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK, and an editor of Documents on British Policy Overseas, the official history of post-1945 British foreign policy.

1. Introduction; Richard Smith and Angela Romano.- 2. ‘We Can’t Fire the Allies!’: How Western European Opposition to US Sanctions Stoked a Backlash in Washington; Susan Colborn.- 3. US Moral Leadership and Human Rights in the Siberian Gas Pipeline Crisis; Gregory Domber.- 4. Against All Odds: The Soviet Union and the Building of the World’s Longest Pipeline; Dunja Krempin and Jeronim Perovi-.- 5. West Germany, CoCom and the West Siberian Pipeline Crisis; Armin Grünbacher.- 6. France and the West Siberian Pipeline Crisis, 1981-82; Rachel Utley.- 7. 'A lesson in how not to conduct alliance business’: Britain and the West Siberian Pipeline Crisis; Richard Smith.- 8. Italy and the West Siberian Pipeline: A Long and Complex Story; Antonio Varsori.- 9. Innocent Bystander? NATO and the West Siberian Pipeline Crisis; Evanthis Hatzivassiliou.