Richard Morningstar, the U.S. Secretary of State’s special envoy for Eurasian energy, spoke Friday on a panel for the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum about the political and economic conflicts surrounding gas pipelines in Eurasia.
“Most importantly, we want to constructively engage with Russia on energy,” Morningstar said when outlining the United States’ present policy toward Russia in the “energy era.”
Morningstar spoke at the panel Friday with Stanford professor Coit Blacker, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and Jan Kalicki of Chevron.
Morningstar said the United States’ Eurasian energy policy was formerly “Nabucco-centric,” supporting the Nabucco pipeline that would transfer natural gas from Turkey to Austria and bypass Russia entirely, raising questions about the federation’s influence in the region.
Russia, meanwhile, has been a major proponent of the projected South Stream pipeline. Seen as a competitor to the Nabucco pipeline, it would transport gas from Russia into Europe, following a similar route to the Nabucco through Eurasia.
The United States has since abandoned its former Nabucco-centric outlook in favor of a more balanced Eurasian energy strategy.
“We are not interested in zero sum games anywhere,” Morningstar said.
He recognized the need for constructive solutions to Eurasian energy conflicts and cited interconnections through transnational pipelines as one such solution.
In that vein, Morningstar said the United States was not opposed to the development of the Nord Stream pipeline in Europe–controversial for environmental and geopolitical reasons–because it created necessary links between Germany and Poland.
“We can’t be more European than the Europeans,” he said. “We have no choice but to take the position that this is a European issue and we’re not opposed to it.”
When asked why the United States is involved in Eurasian energy issues, Morningstar said European energy security is in the United States’ interest because of interdependent economies.
“We’re not preaching to the Europeans,” he said. “We can only be helpful in some ways. When it comes to internal European politics, that is not our business, and we do not try to make it our business.”
“We’re trying to depoliticize discussions on pipelines,” he added. “We are only asking that countries can make their own decisions in how to produce and distribute resources in the region,” rather than having to submit to the control of Russia as the dominant supplier of Europe’s natural gas.
The forum also brought in college students from across the country.
Alice Underwood, a Harvard undergraduate, attended the panel as a Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum delegate.
“This is a new perspective for United States interjections in foreign affairs,” Underwood said.
Amanda Tuninetti, a Princeton undergraduate, also attended as a delegate.
“It’s representative of this administration’s move towards greater cooperation with [Europeans] and away from trying to dictate the interests of the [Europeans],” Tuninetti said.
“While the United States remains a world power, it should let other countries pursue their own goals,” Underwood added.