America's Unnoticed New War

As I've traveled this week for the launch of The Oil and the Glory, I've been asked if we're at the start of a new Cold War with Russia. Even my wife says that I at times seem to regard Russia as the devil.

The answer is no.

Yet, the West and Russia are undeniably in a new battle for influence and power.

But there is a difference in how their armies are arrayed: Russia, in the person of Vladimir Putin, has fought brilliantly so far. But the U.S. seems barely to have noticed that it has a new war front in addition to terror.

The war is over the flow of oil and natural gas from the former Soviet Union to Europe. It's similar to the 19th and 20th century struggle for mastery of sea lanes in that the conflict is over who will control arteries vital to everyone.

The stakes are high -- influence in Europe, on whom the U.S. relies for support on political and economic issues around the world. And, so far, Russia has the pronounced advantage.

The odd thing is that the U.S. actually won the first battle of this war, but it's Russia that's learned the lessons and applied them.

The U.S. victory was the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, linking the Caspian and Mediterranean seas. Its launch last year spelled the first break in Russia's nation-breaking economic stranglehold over Central Asia and the Caucasus, sending about 1 million barrels a day of oil to the West.

Yet, while the U.S. has now turned its focus to missiles, Russia is fighting the new war by building its own ingeniously plotted energy pipelines to Europe. They have names like Nord Stream and South Stream, and there are more.

This is Russia pursuing its national interests -- the market dominance of Europe for Gazprom, its natural gas giant, and its oil companies.

That's not evil. It's devilishly shrewd. And it's been all but unanswered by the U.S.