We just need the smoke to settle, first. It brings me back to just a few years ago, when I found myself in the middle of a political tiff between Moscow, Brussels, and Washington. Then, the issue has centered on a move by the Obama Administration to decrease European reliance on Russian natural gas by offering alternative energy sourcing. The alternative source being considered back then was gas coming from Iraq and Kurdistan, something still being discussed today. At the time, I was a consultant to both the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources. That meant I was in the middle of what was on occasion some rather rancorous negotiations. While the EU in Brussels wanted to diversify away from relying heavily on fuel from Russia, it has also always disliked being lectured to by Washington. This morning had all those memories coming back. […]