Gazprom tried to buy the Wall Street Journal?

Maybe Rupert’s not so bad after all. Wall Street Journal reporters unhappy with their new boss should be thankful today, as a report in the Times of London indicates it could have been a lot worse. According to the Times, “an international oil and gas company” held private talks in July to buy the company ...

599443_gazprom_logo5.gif
599443_gazprom_logo5.gif

Maybe Rupert's not so bad after all.

Maybe Rupert’s not so bad after all.

Wall Street Journal reporters unhappy with their new boss should be thankful today, as a report in the Times of London indicates it could have been a lot worse. According to the Times, “an international oil and gas company” held private talks in July to buy the company for more than $5 billion dollars. Sources confirmed the unnamed company was Gazprom, the Russian-controlled energy giant. 

It’s highly unlikely the Gazprom bid could have succeeded—the U.S. government would have likely scuttled the deal, as it has in the past when it strong-armed Dubai Ports World into giving up its American holdings. That doesn’t mean, however, that the bid is unimportant. It’s yet another indication of Russia’s increasingly aggressive international posture, and another attempt by Moscow to use Gazprom as a foreign-policy tool. It is also the second time in recent months that Gazprom has attempted to enter the U.S. market (the first being a potential deal with BP). But trying to buy Dow Jones, owner of one of the best newspapers in the world, a symbol of American capitalism? The Russians are nothing if not ambitious.

More from Foreign Policy

Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.
Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.

Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes

A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.

A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance

De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat

Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?

A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.

An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.
An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.

The Battle for Eurasia

China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.