Nord Stream - a whodunit
If I taught a class covering media literacy, current events, or international relations, I think I could build some interesting lessons around the Nord Stream pipelines. The story has a little bit of everything, and it would be a great way to look at the conflict in Ukraine beyond daily military updates.
The obvious question is who sabotaged the pipelines. But depending on the level of the class, there’s plenty of ground to cover before getting to that question. Here’s my rough layout for a discussion.
(1) What is Nord Stream?
This 2011 article in Der Spiegel provides a great place to start. Wikipedia’s entry for Nord Stream 2 is extensive and serves as a good introduction to the interests of all the concerned parties.
(2) Who benefitted from the pipelines?
(3) Who opposed the pipelines and why?
(4) How did the U.S. view the pipelines?
This part gets complicated. I won’t lie, I’ve had to read about the U.S.’s opposition to the pipelines a few times, and I’ve still only got a basic understanding. In general, it sounds like the USG argued that the pipelines would increase Europe’s dependence on Russia, would weaken Poland and Ukraine economically and strategically, and would strengthen Russia. Germany and other European countries claimed that the US wanted to replace Russia in the market.
In February 2022, President Biden stated that if Russia invaded Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 would be stopped. The following quote is from an NPR story.
"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2," Biden said. "We will bring an end to it."
Asked how the U.S. would ensure that, Biden did not offer specifics: "I promise you: We will be able to do it." It's a point Biden administration officials have stressed in recent weeks.
(5) What happened to the pipelines? (Looking for the basics here, think in terms of the earliest announcements.)
This is a description of the events in a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace article. The article is interesting, but I think it stops short of exploring who might have benefitted from the bombing of the pipelines. I think the article points to Russia despite also indicating that there are no clear answers.
Pressure drops were reported at both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines running underneath the Baltic Sea on September 26. Three separate leaks were recorded off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden, a few dozen kilometers apart. Both lines of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline were impacted, along with one line of Nord Stream 2. Reports from seismologists based in Denmark and Sweden suggest that sizeable explosions on the order of 100 kilograms of TNT occurred in both incidents.
(6) I love getting to use this phrase - cui bono?
A good time for a discussion.
(7) Task - research theories and investigations about the bombing of the pipelines. Do you think it was a complicated operation? Give some more thought to who gained the most, who lost the most? President Biden said that “we” would stop Nord Stream 2 if Russia invaded Ukraine. Have reporters asked him about that statement since the bombing? Why would Russia destroy its own pipelines?
This is the fun part. I know who I think did it, but my thoughts on it aren’t the point of this site. I’ll provide a couple of links to articles that I’ve found interesting.
The first one nearly melted the Twitterverse - it’s a piece by Seymour Hersh describing a covert operation by the US and allies. People have strong opinions about Hersh! But he’s one of America’s most famous investigative journalists, and the piece is incredible, regardless of the conclusions one draws. It’s also a great opportunity to discuss sourcing. Hersh lists one anonymous source. Pros, cons? However, Hersh has said elsewhere that he always gets additional sourcing, even if he doesn’t list them. (I need to find a link for that.)
I’m still reading about the responses to Hersh’s article and current investigations. A lot of the responses seem to focus on Hersh and not his information. I thought this post by Ian Bremmer was good. Raises a lot of interesting questions and topics that would be fun to discuss.
(8) Debate - who did it?