Based on extensive field work and in-depth interviews in Kazakhstan, this book provides a comprehensive study of the issues of politics of oil and state-business relationships in Kazakhstan. It examines the ways in which the post-Soviet Kazakh regime has managed to sustain itself in power, and the regime maintenance techniques it has used in the process of establishing and upholding its position.

Oil in the Caspian Basin : facts and figures / Gael Raballand and Regis Gente -- The impact of oil revenues on economic performance : analytical issues / Michael Lewin -- Nominal and real exchange rates in Kazakhstan : any sign of the Dutch disease? / Balazs Egert and Carol Leonard -- Resource revenues and fiscal sustainability in Kazakhstan / Peter Lohmus and Anna Ter Martirosyan -- Fiscal decentralization in centralized states : Central Asian patterns / Natalie Leschenko and Manuela Troschke -- Redistribution of oil revenues in Kazakhstan / Boris Najman.[et al.] -- Whither oil money? Redistribution of oil revenues in Azerbaijan / Matthias Luecke and Natalia Trofimenko -- Improving the beneficial socio-economic impact of hydrocarbon extraction on local/regional development in Caspian economies / Richard Auty -- Tengiz crude : a view from below / Saulesh Yessenova -- Conclusions.

One of the dominant export-oriented industries in Russia, oil is a major source of tax revenue and wealth. The privatization of these vast assets has made the industry a site not only for conflict between power holders but also a strategic target for international corporations and Western governments. In this thoughtful analysis, a group of international specialists explores the political and economic issues and controversies surrounding the oil industry's move to capitalism. The authors examine the spread of crime and corruption, the role of Russian and Western financial institutions, regional tensions, and the international dimension. As a paradigm for the Russian economy as a whole, the case of oil industry provides invaluable insights for understanding the political and economic problems confronting Russia today.

This book examines the development of bilateral energy relations between China and the two oil-rich countries, Kazakhstan and Russia. Challenging conventional assumptions about energy politics and China’s global quest for oil, this book examines the interplay of politics and sociocultural contexts. It shows how energy resources become ideas and how these ideas are mobilized in the realm of international relations. China’s relations with Kazakhstan and Russia are simultaneously enabled and constrained by the discursive politics of oil. It is argued that to build collaborative and constructive energy relations with China, its partners in Kazakhstan, Russia, and elsewhere must consider not only the material realities of China’s energy industry and the institutional settings of China’s energy policy but also the multiple symbolic meanings that energy resources and, particularly, oil acquire in China. China’s Energy Security and Relations with Petrostates offers a nuanced understanding of China’s bilateral energy relations with Kazakhstan and Russia, raising essential questions about the social logic of international energy politics. It will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, energy security, Chinese and post-Soviet studies, along with researchers working in the fields of energy policy and environmental sustainability.

Published since 1928, the Political Handbook of the World provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies and political parties than any other reference guide. The updated 2016–2017 Edition continues this legacy as the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup. Political science and international relations scholars have revised this edition, and made understanding complex foreign affairs andpolitical situations easy and accessible. With more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, housed in one place, these volumes are renowned for their extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system. They also provide names of key ambassadors and international memberships of each country, plus detailed profiles of more than 30 intergovernmental organizations and United Nations agencies. This comprehensive update will include coverage of current events, issues, crises, and controversies from the course of the last two years, including: The closely-watched U.S. presidential election The effect of the Brexit referendum and installment of a new British prime minister The extensive investigation and subsequent impeachment of Brazil’s president The far-reaching impact of the “Panama Papers” scandal Changes in U.S.–Cuba diplomatic relations and the reopening of their embassies The unconstitutional declaration of Gambia as an Islamic State Sentiments about the migrant and refugee crisis across Europe and the influence on policy Also, the new “For Further Reference” feature included for every country entry directs readers to additional resources to continue their research.

Remote, forbidding, and volatile, the Caspian Sea long tantalized the world with its vast oil reserves. But outsiders, blocked by the closed Soviet system, couldn’t get to it. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and a wholesale rush into the region erupted. Along with oilmen, representatives of the world’s leading nations flocked to the Caspian for a share of the thirty billion barrels of proven oil reserves at stake, and a tense geopolitical struggle began. The main players were Moscow and Washington–the former seeking to retain control of its satellite states, and the latter intent on dislodging Russia to the benefit of the West. The Oil and the Glory is the gripping account of this latest phase in the epochal struggle for control of the earth’s “black gold.” Steve LeVine, who was based in the region for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek, weaves an astonishing tale of high-stakes political gamesmanship, greed, and scandal, set in one of the most opaque corners of the world. In LeVine’s telling, the world’s energy giants jockey for position in the rich Kazakh and Azeri oilfields, while superpowers seek to gain a strategic foothold in the region and to keep each other in check. At the heart of the story is the contest to build and operate energy pipelines out of the landlocked region, the key to controlling the Caspian and its oil. The oil pipeline that resulted, the longest in the world, is among Washington’s greatest foreign policy triumphs in at least a decade and a half. Along the way, LeVine introduces such players as James Giffen, an American moneyman who was also the political “fixer” for oil companies eager to do business on the Caspian and the broker for Kazakhstan’s president and ministers; John Deuss, the flamboyant Dutch oil trader who won big but lost even bigger; Heydar Aliyev, the oft-misunderstood Azeri president who transcended his past as a Soviet Politburo member and masterminded a scheme to loosen Russian control over its former colonies in the Caspian region; and all manner of rogues, adventurers, and others drawn by the irresistible pull of untold riches and the possible “final frontier” of the fossil-fuel era. The broader story is of the geopolitical questions of the Caspian oil bonanza, such as whether Russia can be a trusted ally and trading partner with the West, and what Washington’s entry into this important but chaotic region will mean for its long-term stability. In an intense and suspenseful narrative, The Oil and the Glory is the definitive chronicle of events that are understood by few, but whose political and economic impact will be both profound and lasting.

This reference book documents the careers and achievements of the world's leading political figures. It provides a biography of the political chiefs of the world, including prime ministers, military commanders, presidents, religious primates, and revolutionaries.