The Energy Policy of Russia, or the Energy Basis of Geopolitical Supremacy

The purpose of the chapter is to examine Russia’s use of one of its major power capabilities, i.e. energy abundance for achieving geopolitical goals. In the course of the analysis, the hypothesis that Russia’s energy policy is strongly related to long-term geopolitical goals of the country, and also serves the fulfillment of the imperial ambitions of the state elites is verified. Author investigates how systemic factors (the structure of the energy system, the raw material economy, and the state apparatus itself), including the ideology of the Russian political elite, allow for a strong subordination of energy policy instruments to geopolitical goals. First of all, the importance of Russia in the global raw materials markets is analyzed – it is presented as condicio sine qua non for building energy power and a formulation of policy oriented toward the use of energy resources/market position to achieve geopolitical goals. Then, the mechanism of the resource economy/petrostate and the specificity of Russia in this research reference are presented. This analysis makes it possible to understand to what extent the mechanism of the petrostate is the main systemic constrain of Russia’s ability to exercise power in the international arena Then, the influence of other systemic conditions on the implementation of Russia’s imperial aspirations – the internal organization of the fuel and energy sector, and the energy diplomacy of Russia in relation to “near” and “far” abroad – is being studied. Finally, the significance of geopolitical ideas for the contemporary political elites responsible for shaping the energy policy of Russia is being analyzed. In this part, an attempt is made to diagnose the evolution of links between the political and business elites of post-Cold War Russia, with particular emphasis on the relations between the interest of the state (the political elite) and Russia’s business elite under Vladimir Putin’s rule.