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Politics of Energy Dependency
Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania Between Domestic Oligarchs and Russian Pressure
Margarita M. Balmaceda (Author)
9781487520229
Paperback / softback, published 23 July 2015
464 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm, 0.7 kg
‘Balmaceda’s book is the most informative monograph available on all the various aspects of “the energy sector” in Ukraine, as well as in Belarus and Lithuania…. The book surely deserves a wider reading than those attracted by its main title.’ - Hans Oversloot (East European Politics vol 30:02:2014) ‘The Politics of Energy Dependency is a ground breaking empirical study. It raises crucial questions that anyone interested in energy studies of ex-soviet countries and Russia ought to consider.’ - Keneshbek Abdirakhmanov (The Journal of Slavic Military Studies vol 27:03:2014) ‘This study is a strong balance of theoretical framing and empirical richness… This book has new information and valuable insights in it for a wide range of readers.’ - William M. Reisinger (Slavic Review vol 73:03:2014) “The definitive account of Russia’s energy trade with its western neighbours ... Summing Up: Essential.” - P.Rutland (Choice Magazine, vol 51:10:2014) “A tour de force analysis ... rich in data and clear in exposition, with more than sufficient detail to educate specialists and to interest generalists concerned with European and world affairs.” - Walter C. Clemens, Jr. (Journal of Baltic Studies) ‘Outstanding volume… This book is invaluable as a successful example of how to unpack the black box of the highly sensitive issue of energy dependency.’ "The Politics of Energy Dependency gives a well-argued account of how public policy in the former Soviet space, and energy policy more specifically, can be improved to benefit the population in the long term."
Energy has been an important element in Moscow’s quest to exert power and influence in its surrounding areas both before and after the collapse of the USSR. With their political independence in 1991, Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania also became, virtually overnight, separate energy-poor entities heavily dependent on Russia. This increasingly costly dependency – and elites’ scrambling over associated profits – came to crucially affect not only relations with Russia, but the very nature of post-independence state building. 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. A must-read for anyone interested in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the politics of natural resources, this book reveals the insights gained by looking at post-Soviet development and international relations issues not only from a Moscow-centered perspective, but from that of individual actors in other states.
Acknowledgments Note on Sources and Transliteration Abbreviations Part I: Larger Influencing Factors 1. Introduction: Domestic Politics and the Management of Energy Dependency in the Former Soviet Union 2. The Legacy of the Common Soviet Energy Past: Path Dependencies and Energy Networks 3. Domestic Contradictions, Foreign Energy, Policy Levers, and Trans-Border Rent-Seeking: The Domestic Russian Background to the Role of Energy in Relations with Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania Part II: Case Studies 4. Ukraine: Energy Dependency and the Rise of the Ukrainian Oligarchs 5. Belarus: Turning Dependency into Power? 6. Lithuania: Energy Policy Between Domestic Interests, Russia, and the EU Part: III: Conclusions 7. Conclusion: Managing Dependency, Managing Interests Appendix: Chronologies of Main Energy Events for Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine [Maps] Bibliography