Oil to go up when Russia's pipeline cut

Odds on the Russian gas/oil pipeline will be sabotaged or blown up with this excursion into Georgia (wouldn't you?). Time to buy those oil and gas futures again. If it leads to serious escalation and flare-ups elsewhere (likely if it drags on) where will Europe get their energy?

One wonders where the Russian rocket scientists have gone, surely there's someone who can see the folly in the current situation. It's not as if they didn't have enough to worry about already. It may prove to be very expensive real estate. These things seem to have consequences far into the future.

The obvious outcomes appear to be:

a: someone will get mad enough to take the funding out of Russia, ie oil money/pipe.

b: someone will get mad enough to 'encourage' more breakaways.

c: Condoleezza Rice will be on their case.

I guess they don't know how capable Ms Rice is. I'm not political but even I can tell you that girl is not someone they want to mess with again.

I see insurmountable problems for them either way. Pity.

To the Past or The Future?

I can see Russia going down a path where they spend all that oil money trying to go back to the past instead of taking Russia into the future.

At the very least they'll end up squandering it trying to suppress an ever increasing number of breakaways.

Will Putin's legacy be the dissolution of what's left of Russia?

Perhaps that's the 'plan' anyway and he's only 'falling' for it.

Russia has the opportunity to make a great leap forward but it may well pass Russia by and set things back irrepairably, unless the leaders regain their leadership.

One lesson you can take from the west is that you'll find more 'power' becoming something everyone else wants to be part of, rather than trying to force others to be part of something less. While still making the odd mistake the U.S. has probably learned it's lessons there, perhaps not least through the efforts of Ms Rice.

Many people across Russia will be thinking about what they'd like to be part of in the coming days and even the true nationalists of Russia will probably see that they aren't getting their fair share of the prosperity in this current incarnation of a potentially much greater Russia. You don't have to be bigger to be greater, that's how you get bigger - leading the way to a better future.

The future could hold so much more for the ordinary Russian. It would appear that the government is out of touch with the majority of the people and these 'distractions' will merely delay the inevitable.

Russia deserves better leadership, but then they aren't alone in that.

That may not mean new leaders but it definitely means new leadership. The age of the iron glove is over.

The Iron curtain may be down but I see one of a different sort going up in it's place.

I'd be questioning any Russian investments at the moment. Risk is getting a little big.

Are we going to see a re-doubling of solar and nuclear power production efforts in Europe? Some of those solar companies are looking good, along with uranium mining.

A few defence contractors are looking good too, although I don't see the nuclearisation of the European defense, I suspect they have something a little more 21st century in mind. I'm not sure what they're calling it but Thor's Hammer might be a good analogy.

It might all provide a little stimulus to the US economy eh?

The New York Times reports that military equipment sales ranging from tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005.