Overview

Financially crippled and besieged by political crises following the fall of the Soviet Union, it looked as if Russia's days as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and go on to accumulate the world's third-largest holdings of foreign currency reserves in less than a decade is nothing short of an economic miracle. Oilopoly is the riveting tale of this dramatic resurgence, bringing to light the far-reaching and politically troubling implications of Russia's new-found dominance in global energy markets.A story of oil and gas, corruption and naked power, Oilopoly traces the rise of the Russian oil economy from its origins in the nineteenth century right through to Vladimir Putin's determined efforts to rein in the oil oligarchs, re-nationalize Russia's industries, and pay off its international debt. Charting Putin's astounding success in transforming the country into the world's largest oil producer, Marshall Goldman argues that Russia has rapidly evolved into a new breed of superpower - one whose energy-driven economy can, at the flick of a switch, deprive entire nations of their most important resource. Narrated with panache by a world expert on Russia, this is an indispensable read for anyone interested in world politics and the future of our global energy supply.

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9781851686469

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Marshall Goldman is Professor of Economics Emeritus at Wellesley College and Senior Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University. An internationally recognized authority on Russian history, politics, and economics, he has met with Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin, and has advised former President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush on Russian affairs. His many other publications include Lost Opportunity: What has Made Economic Reform in Russia so Difficult, and The Piratization of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry. He has also written for such publications as Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker, and is a regular contributor to the Russian newspapers, Moscow News and The Moscow Times.

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