Oilopoly: Putin, Power and the Rise of the New Russia - Hardcover

A gripping, highly topical, and important book - and what a rattling good read! --Richard Sakwa, Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs

A superb, readable description of Vladimir Putin's role in the emergence of Russia as a successful and potentially threatening petrostate. --James R. Millar, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

This may be Goldman's best book, and that's saying a lot. Focusing on Putin's Russia with a scholar's commitment to deep and meaningful research and a reporter's eye for detail and color, Goldman has explained why and how Russia has again emerged as a global power. The answer is oil. At inflated prices, it leads directly to inflated national aspirations and further down the road to dangers of a totally unpredictable nature. Read and learn. --Marvin Kalb, former Moscow bureau chief for CBS News

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.