Financial journalist Lars Schall talks with energy expert Dr. Karin Kneissl about the crisis in the Ukraine, and more specifically, inter alia, about the economic sanctions put in play, the overestimated energy market in Europe, the future of the South Stream pipeline, the geopolitics in Eurasia, and the pricing of energy products in currencies other than the US dollar.

By Lars Schall

There is no such thing as a European energy policy

Dr. Karin Kneissl works as an independent energy-analyst, university teacher and writer. She authored several books and articles on energy and Middle East related topics. From 1990 to 1998 she served in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She studied international law and Arabic at Vienna University, did several postgraduate studies in the USA, Israel, Jordan and Italy. Recently, she taught several seminars in Turkmenistan and Lebanon, where she works as guest-lecturer in Beirut. She teaches in Vienna (Diplomatic Academy, Military Academy) and at the European Business School (Frankfurt). Her publications range from books on the Middle East (The Cycle of Violence, 2007) to diplomacy. In 2008 a second and revised edition of the book The Energy Poker was launched in Munich, wherein the repercussions of the current financial market crisis on the price of oil and natural gas are tackled. Her articles on the energy market have been published in peer-reviewed journals, notably in India, Poland and France.