For years Germany, the fourth largest economy in the world, has played both sides of the American-Russian standoff, both during and after the Cold War. Germany has refused to militarize, choosing instead to rely on America’s nuclear umbrella while at the same time staying on Moscow’s good side. The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline was but the latest symbol of drushba (friendship) between the two as Germany continued to draw 55% of its gas and 45% of its oil from Russia. Blame their geographical proximity and Otto von Bismarck's famous line, “Never cut the link to St. Petersburg.”