With high prices for crude oil and natural gas bloating its coffers, Russia is once again aggressively confronting the small and still relatively weak states that fled the eroding Soviet empire 15 years ago. Given the residual economic and institutional ties born of the Soviet era, Russia’s external influence in this region remains enormous.
因为原油和天然气的高价所带来的巨额财富，俄罗斯再次对在15年前逃离正在腐蚀的苏联帝国的弱小的国家施展淫威。因为苏联时期所残留下的经济和制度上的联系，俄罗斯在该地区的外部影响力依然非常强大。然而俄罗斯还把它的能源市场触角伸到了它的近邻之外的地方。