Time: Bill Richardson: Our Best Response to Russia Is Energy Security

Washington must leverage our energy bounty to advance our foreign policy goals.

In the short term, the key questions surrounding the crisis in the Ukraine involve whether Russia’s expansionist tendencies will continue in the Ukraine after the Crimean vote and, subsequently, the effectiveness and intensity of the American and European sanctions in the ensuing weeks.

Longer term, America and the West need to take several steps: As a starter, the U.S. should consider bringing back the anti-missile defense in Poland; additionally, it should ensure the Ukrainian defense forces are strengthened, and it should also re-evaluate increasing defense support for strong U.S.-friendly countries like Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania.

But the most powerful response from the West must come in the form of transatlantic energy security. The importance of European and Eurasian energy independence from Russia has only increased over time. Both regions have been taking measured steps to reduce their dependence on Russia, especially after the Russia-Ukraine gas disputes of 2006 and 2009, which left much of Europe under-heated in those winters.  MORE