Russia is the world's foremost energy superpower, rivaling Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer and accounting for a quarter of the world's exports of natural gas. Russia's energy reserves account for half of the world's probable oil reserves and a third of the world's proven natural gas reserves. Whereas military might and nuclear weapons formed the core of Soviet cold war power, since 1991 the Russian state has viewed its monopolistic control of Russia's energy resources as the core of its power now and for the future. Since 2005, the international news has been filled with Russia's repeated demonstrations of its readiness to use price, transit fees, and supply of gas and oil exports as punitive policy instruments against recalcitrant states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, striking in turn the Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, and Lithuania. Orban reveals for the first time in Power, Energy, and the New Russian Imperialism Russia's readiness to wield the same energy weapon against her neighbors on the west, all of them former Soviet satellite states but now EU and NATO member nations: the three Baltic nations and the five East European nations of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia. Orban shows how the Kremlin since 1991 has systematically used Russian energy companies as players in a concerted neo-mercantilist, energy-based foreign policy designed to further Russia's neo-imperial ambitions among America's key allies in Central East Europe. Her unprecedented analysis is key to predicting Russia's strategic response to American negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to host the US missile shield. She also reveals the economic and diplomatic modus operandi by which Russia will increasingly apply its energy clout to shape and coerce the foreign policies of the West European members of the EU, as Russia's contribution to EU gas consumption increases from a quarter today to three-quarters by 2020. Orban proves that Russia's neo-mercantilist energy strategy in East Europe is not at all dependent on the person of Putin, but began under Yeltsin and continues under Medvedev, the former chairman of Gazprom.

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine administered an unprecedented shock to the European and global energy markets, triggering emergency interventions and market reforms to limit the impact of the crisis on energy prices and supply security. More fundamentally, the supply shock sparked a profound reappraisal of foreign supply and infrastructure dependencies (for example, on China), leading states to adopt new legal initiatives to strengthen the resilience of their clean energy supply chains. Energy geopolitics and supply security are now firmly back at the centre of global energy policy, and in this new geopolitical reality, we critically need to reassess the role of energy law in the creation - and avoidance - of dangerous energy dependencies. Using the 2022 energy crisis as core example, Energy Dependence and Supply Security offers a legal analysis of energy trade and investment as a tool of geopolitical power, an issue seldom considered outside of economic statecraft and energy geopolitics. Anatole Boute's timely analysis illustrates the paradox of energy law and security: legal instruments of energy security have helped create the supply and infrastructure dependencies that allowed for the weaponization of energy. The book examines the legal responses adopted by the European Union to the impact of the Russian energy shock, reflecting on strategies to avoid similar disruptions in the clean energy industry. In turn, it proposes innovative supply security reforms that would allow dependencies to be managed, while still preserving the international collaboration that is needed to accelerate the transition to clean, affordable, and secure energy systems.

By combining perspectives from experts in domestic politics, regional politics, and specialists in international security, this edited volume focuses on the central role of energy production and supply in the Russian-Western completion across Eurasia.

The Politics of Energy Dependency explores why these states were unable to move towards energy diversification. Through extensive field research using previously untapped local-language sources, Margarita M. Balmaceda reveals a complex picture of local elites dealing with the complications of energy dependency and, in the process, affecting the energy security of Europe as a whole.

This book examines the role of trust in European-Russian energy relations and how some European countries have become dependent on Russia for energy. It examines how trust is developed between nations, the social interactions that underpin it, and the significant differences in the ways in which difference countries create energy partnerships. The role of cooperation and direct experience, historical memories, national culture, individual personalities, and trade agreement structures are also discussed. European-Russian energy relations are contextualised within the Russia-Ukraine war, Europe’s energy transition, the economic sanctions imposed on Russia, and the role played by the European Union. This book aims to present policy recommendations to ensure European energy security. It will be relevant to researchers and policymakers interested in energy economics and the political economy of energy.

Gas makes or breaks economies, as shown by the effects of the 2009 Ukraine/Russia gas supply crisis. Joshua Posaner looks at four case study countries in Central and Eastern Europe. He examines the interdependence between the domestic political structure of a gas import-dependent country and the price it paid for imports up to 2014, using the level of reliance on the dominant supplier as an indicator. The more dependent a country is on a single supplier, the more it pays for its supplies. The author aims to explain why capitals prioritize energy security and balance their import portfolios differently, while taking a new angle on the European gas system. He offers a timely investigation into an oft-reported subject, with Russia’s perceived “energy weapon” and themes of “energy dependence” weighing heavily on European political discourse.

The purpose of this book is to move beyond the approach which views energy as a purely geopolitical tool of the Russian state and assumes a 'one size fits all' approach to energy security in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that in order to fully understand Russian involvement in the regional energy complex, the CEE-Russian energy relationship should be analysed in the context of the political and economic transitions that Russia and the CEE states underwent. The chapters on individual countries in the book demonstrate that, although Russia has and will continue to play a substantial role in the CEE energy sector, the scope of its possible influence has been overstated.

Energy in Europe and Russia is in flux. This book presents a rich set of case studies for analyzing the complex and intertwined regional dynamics of multiple actors, levels, and policy fields in energy throughout Europe and Russia, with the aim of offering an alternative view to the prevalent geopolitical or neoliberal approaches.

Why are bilateral relations, especially in the area of energy security, so different in the cases of U.S.-Russia, U.S.-Azerbaijan, and Russia-Germany energy deals? Why do some states find common ground despite differences, while others, with all the seemingly favourable conditions, are sinking into animosity? Energy Security and Cooperation in Eurasia explores varying outcomes of energy cooperation, defined as diplomatic relations, bilateral trade, and investment in oil and natural gas. The book looks at economic potential, geopolitical rivalry, and domestic interest groups in the cases of U.S.-Russia, U.S.-Azerbaijan, and Russia-Germany energy ties. It looks at major projects in each case (Sakhalin and Arctic oil and gas production, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Nord Stream pipelines) and activities of international oil companies. The book also provides a detailed analysis of the situation in Ukraine since 2014 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and their effect on European energy security. This book utilizes an innovative approach of exploring the dyads of states (bilateral relations) along the economic, geopolitical, and domestic lobbying dimensions. This book is a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students, academics and researchers in the areas of Security, Political Economy, Comparative Politics, post-Soviet studies, as well as for general public.

'Russia is an increasingly important player in global energy markets, yet its policies are under-researched and little understood. This collection represents an important and sophisticated contribution to the debate. While much of the commentary on Russian energy consists of generalizations about Russia's political strategy, this work lifts the lid and looks inside the process through which Russian energy policies are designed and implemented. It brings together essays by top specialists in the field, and makes a conscious effort to integrate the various disciplines of politics, economics and geography by developing a model of the "cognitive frames" through which the policy process is shaped. It addresses both domestic and international dimensions of the problem, and gives equal weight to traditional customers in Europe and new markets in Asia.' Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University, US 'The book explains Russian energy policies, instead of a policy. It portrays a picture with multiple policy drivers, including institutional, regional and federal, environmental and commercial. The study markedly improves our understanding of the multifaceted nature of Russian energy policy, a topical and complex issue. This is a highly commendable book that should be included in the reading lists of anyone with an interest in the role of energy in Russia's political economy or energy matters more generally.' Kim Talus, University College London, Australia Russia's vast energy reserves, and its policies towards them have enormous importance in the current geopolitical landscape. This important book examines Russia's energy policies on the national, interregional and global level. It pays particular attention to energy policy actors ranging from state, federal and regional actors, to energy companies and international financial actors and organizations. The book models the formation of Russia's energy policies in terms of how energy policy actors perceive and map their policy environment. The case studies cover federal, regional and environmental aspects of Russian energy policy, Russia's energy relations with Europe and the CIS, North East Asia, the globalization of Russian oil companies and the political economy of Russian energy. It is found that there are several concurrent energy policies in contemporary Russia, and that this situation is likely to continue. These policies are conducted primarily from the business frame perspective while notions of energy superpower Russia are found more ambiguous. Russia's Energy Policies will benefit advanced master's level students, doctoral students, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. The book will be a great resource for advanced international relations, political economy, international business and globalisation courses alongside energy policy courses, as well as area studies courses on Russian, post-Soviet and European politics and environmental politics.