Putting yourself at the mercy of an unpredictable dictator is never a good idea. But that is exactly the situation that the European Union now finds itself in. After the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in 2011, we can safely say that Europe’s phasing-out of nuclear as a key source of power has been a strategic failure.
The overreliance on natural-gas, a key Russian export through the Nordstream 1 pipeline, has put Europe in the stranglehold of both high inflation and a fragile consumer. As energy prices skyrocket, countries like the United Kingdom have taken steps to place a cap on household energy bills, but small businesses who failed to lock in energy contracts face steepening bills that, along with a weaker consumer, could lead to their demise.
Thinking long-term, here are a few steps the EU should consider taking to shore up their energy infrastructure for the future: