Scott and Daniel Larison discuss the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and what it means for America's stance toward Eastern Europe. The main issue with the German pipeline, Larison explains, is that it will allow Western Europe to buy Russian natural gas without having to deal with Ukrainian transit fees. Ukraine has portrayed the pipeline—and the fact that the U.S. is allowing it to happen—as a betrayal by the West, and has lobbied for sanctions on Germany. Larison is relieved that the U.S. government is backing down from its opposition to the pipeline, because he sees it as a sign that it won't risk jeopardizing its relationships with countries like Germany and France in the future for the sake of the much more significant issue of Ukraine's NATO membership, which Germany and France oppose.

Discussed on the show:

"What Nord Stream 2 Means for NATO Expansion" (Antiwar.com)

"Ukraine Is Part of the West" (Foreign Affairs)

"Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call" (BBC News)

Daniel Larison is a contributing editor at Antiwar.com, contributor at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and former senior editor at The American Conservative magazine. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLarison or on his blog, Eunomia.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

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https://youtu.be/59Bwq8rRdqg