Welcome to bertrandbarre.com! It’s happening now september 2008:

Transcaucasia revisited

The latest events in Georgia, war with Russia, Russian recognition of "independant" South Ossetia and Abkhasia, lead us naturally to take a fresh look, energywise, at this region of the world which used to be called Transcaucasia:

While Oil is plentiful in Azerbaïdjan an oil that Baku has been exporting since ancient times, Armenia and Georgia are devoid of energy resources. Then you could ask : why all this fuss about Georgia? Because the main pipeline transporting Azeri oil to Europe has to cross Georgia (line BTS Baku, Tbilissi, Soupsa), and also because western countries support the Nabucco gas-line which would run parallel to it, going around Russia, a fact not appreciated there, especially since Georgia has volunteered to join NATO.

It may be time to recall how much the European Union depends on Russia for its gas supply, a fact which renders illusory ant mention of sanctions… It may also be a opportunity to look on the map where Chechenya is located.