【英文】国际政治研究所报告：2023年的世界局势（79页）

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.