Russial's Energy Strategy And Diplomacy Under Vladimir Putin

After the end of the Cold War, the international political and economic pattern has entered a phase of transition and the 9.11 terrorist attack and the Iraq War have been good proofs. The economic competition is intertwined with political conflicts which in turn have fostered economic competition or even confrontation. Among all these competitions energy has always been a key issue. Energy, particularly the non-renewable oil and gas, is indispensable to the development of human society and will be playing a dominant role in the international relations until the mid 21st century. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Russia, blessed with huge deposits of oil and gas, has newly emerged as an important actor in the international energy market with the potential to grow into a "energy superpower", which has been causing important changes in the international energy arena. Consequently, the Russian former President Yeltsin and President Putin have both formulated the national mid-term and long-term energy strategies based on the above potential and have made oil and gas resources an important means in foreign policy as well as a strategic tool to maintain the role of Russia as a great power. Russia has made all possible efforts to promote energy diplomacy guided by the general strategy of "Breaking through North America, stabilizing Western Europe, competing for the Caspian Sea, exploiting the East and challenging OPEC" since 9.11.The dissertation is divided into seven parts. The Introduction provides the genesis of this topic choosing surveys the existing research in the related area and finally briefly introduces the research methodology and contents of the paper.Chapter 1 "Russia in the International Energy Structure of the New Century", three issues are addressed: the role of oil and gas in the international energy structure, the characteristics of and changes in international energy structure of the new century and Russia's place and role.Chapter 2, entitled "Russia's Energy Strategy of the Putin Administration", centers on four topics: First, the evolution of Russia's energy strategy; Second, the contents of "Energy Strategy of The Russian Federation to the Year 2020"; Third, the major measures and effects of the implementation of "Energy Strategy of The Russian Federation to the Year 2020"; Fourth, the new progress in Russia's energy strategy since the Yukos Issue.Chapter 3 "Russia's Energy Diplomacy of the Putin Administration" analyzes thefive dimensions of Russia's energy diplomacy. First, energy diplomacy targeting at quasi-overseas; second, energy diplomacy targeting at farther overseas; third, energy diplomacy targeting at China; Fourth, the prospects of Russia-Japan energy cooperation; Fifth, the prospects of Russia-U.S. energy partnership.Chapter 4 is entitled "Main Factors Affecting Russia's Energy Strategy and Its Diplomatic Implementation" discusses the following topics: first, the constructional factors in the domestic demand and supply of energy; second, legal and administrative system factors; third, factors in the international energy market; fourth, geopolitical factor bearing on Russia's energy diplomacy.Chapter 5 "The Diplomacy of Russia's Major Oil and Gas Companies: the Embodiment of Russia's Energy Diplomacy in the Commercial Area", basically addresses the three areas of concern: First, the participation and impact of Russia's major vertically-integrated oil and gas companies in energy diplomacy making-and-decision; Second, the "diplomacy" of Russia's major vertically-integrated oil and gas companies; Third, the cooperation and game-playing between international and Russian oil /gas companies.In the conclusion part, the author firstly summarizes the Russia's energy strategy and diplomacy of the Putin Administration, then offers seven suggestions on the oil and gas cooperation between China and Russia to policy-making department. First, the Good-Neighborly and Friendly Cooperation Treaty between China and Russia should be observed and established as the principle. in developing Sino-Russi...