【英文】国际政治研究所报告：2023年的世界局势（79页）

英文研究报告 2023年01月31日 06:17 管理员

Another area of serious concern is the European industrial system and its future prospects. An inconvenient truth is that Europe’s industry has flourished, among other things, thanks to massive inflows of stable and cheap Russian energy since WWII. The pact that cemented East-West mutual interdependence was underpinned by the construction of massive interconnecting infrastructure, including gas pipelines linking the prolific Western Siberian fields with the heart of Europe. Ironically, the main pipeline that connects Russia and Europe through Ukraine was called “Brotherhood”.

As natural gas still remains an important energy source for the industrial sector today, the risk of shortages and the very high prices represent a huge issue for the competitiveness of European industry. The shock for the European system is therefore on multiple levels: for households through energy bills and for the industrial sector through a gloomy economic outlook and loss of competitiveness. One lesson from past crises is that besides difficulties, recession and inflation, some important elements of innovation can sometimes emerge. After the 1970s oil crisis, the world saw the largest development of nuclear energy in history and massive improvements in the efficiency of vehicles and appliances.