Oil over troubled waters
A great game unfolds between America and Russia
IN CLASSICAL times, the Black Sea was perversely known as the Euxeinos Pontos, a sea friendly to strangers, even though its notoriously turbulent waters were nothing of the kind. The hope was that if you gave the place a nice name, the invisible powers who governed its towering waves might feel placated and behave more calmly. To this day, it remains a temperamental stretch of water that can generate sudden squalls and treat outsiders in unpredictable ways, even when efforts are being made to appease its restless spirits.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Oil over troubled waters”
From the May 28th 2005 edition
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