Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia
"One of America's most seasoned Kremlin-watchers, Goldman's snappily writtenPetrostateargues boldly that Russia has become an energy superpower with a strong political agenda."--The Economist"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"Few developments are likely to reshape the contours of international politics over the next decade more than Russia's ascent to energy superpower.  And no one can tell the story of that ascent and the challenges it presents with better knowledge or flair for detail than Marshall Goldman."--Mark R. Beissinger, Professor of Politics, Princeton University"InPetrostate, he treats petroleum as the key to Russian power, devoting the first half of his brief and very readable book to a fast-paced history of oil in Russia's economic growth from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth."--The Nation"A superb, readable description of Vladimir Putin's role in the emergence of Russia as a successful and potentially threatening petrostate. As a bonus Goldman also provides a concise survey of Russian political and economic history, with emphasis upon the growth of its oil and gas industries from the earliest days to the present."--James R. Millar, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University"'What is good for Gazprom is good for the world!' This emphatic claim by a prominent Russian energy official lies at the core of Marshall Goldman's timely and sobering new study of Moscow's petroleum industry. Putin is at the center of Goldman's readable study of the resurgence of Russian power based on petro-dollars. But the author combines sound history with economic analysis to come to the important conclusion that the new assertiveness of the Kremlin is here to stay."--Norman M. Naimark, Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor in East European Studies, Stanford University