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Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.47
EAN: 9780195340730
ISBN: 0195340736
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
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Editorial Review:
In the aftermath of the financial collapse of August 1998, it looked as if Russia's day as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and reassert itself after less than a decade is nothing short of an economic and political miracle.
Based on extensive research, including several interviews with Vladimir Putin, this revealing book chronicles Russia's dramatic reemergence on the world stage, illuminating the key reason for its rebirth: the use of its ever-expanding energy wealth to reassert its traditional great power ambitions. In his deft, informative narrative, Marshall Goldman traces how this has come to be, and how Russia is using its oil-based power as a lever in world politics. The book provides an informative overview of oil in Russia, traces Vladimir Putin's determined effort to reign in the upstart oil oligarchs who had risen to power in the post-Soviet era, and describes Putin's efforts to renationalize and refashion Russia's industries into state companies and his vaunted "national champions" corporations like Gazprom, largely owned by the state, who do the bidding of the state. Goldman shows how Russia paid off its international debt and has gone on to accumulate the world's third largest holdings of foreign currency reserves--all by becoming the world's largest producer of petroleum and the world's second largest exporter. Today, Vladimir Putin and his cohort have stabilized the Russian economy and recentralized power in Moscow, and fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) have made it all possible.
The story of oil and gas in Russia is a tale of discovery, intrigue, corruption, wealth, misguidance, greed, patronage, nepotism, and power. Marshall Goldman tells this story with panache, as only one of the world's leading authorities on Russia could.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - The Future of our Foreign Policy
This book is an important read for anyone with an interest in foreign policy and the role that energy is playing in it.
I have read the book and listened to Marshall Goldman speak, and read the other reviews, and am writing this because I think the other reviewers may be missing an important point. It is not so much about the details of the book, and I am sure there are some factual errors. The story is about Putin and about Energy, and how Putin has turned Russia from a bankrupt nation ... Read More
Rating:  - Excellent Background!
"Petrostate" provides good insights into Russia's comeback after its late 1990s nadir, as well as an understanding of its economic-political strategies.
Russia regained its place as the world's largest oil producer in 2007; energy generates about 30% of Russia's GDP and 60% of its exports. Russia is a major energy provider to Europe and the U.S. The U.S. buys $10 billion of Russian petroleum, LUKoil bought nearly 3,000 U.S. filling stations from Getty Oil and Mobil. Gazprom also provides ... Read More
Rating: - Very interesting insight in today's Russia
The book opens with the sentence "Russia once again an energy superpower and that is exactly what the book is about.
Russia was the most important non-American producer at the start of the 20th century, it was a very important producer during the Cold War years and it lost it completely in the break up of the Soviet Union.
After the desatrous privatisation under Jeltzin the industry was in tatters. Goldman describes clearly and with good analytical depth how under Putin the country ... Read More
Rating:  - Petrostate Review
Goldman's book, Petrostate was somewhat interesting and shed some light on the complexity of business and energy in Russia. His research and references were undeniable but at times (not to his fault) difficult to follow because of the many "smoke and mirrors" corporate structures of many Russian companies and individuals based there. The government is layered with backscratching which he points out brilliantly throughout.
Overall, the book gave me a better understanding of business in Russia and ... Read More
Rating:  - Rife with factual errors
As a student of Russian energy markets, I can confidently say that this book is rife with factual errors. Simple things like calling Iran one of the top gas exporters in the world (Iran doesn't export gas at all, it imports it, though Iran does have some of the largest gas reserves in the world); claiming that liquefied natural gas (LNG) often needs long-term contracts of "two years" to sell (usually needs contracts of 10-20 years); contending that OPEC regulated the oil market through production quotas from its ... Read More
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