Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia
Author: Marshall I Goldman
In the aftermath of the financial collapse of August 1998, it looked as if Russia's day as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and reassert itself after less than a decade is nothing short of an economic and political miracle.
Based on extensive research, including several interviews with Vladimir Putin, this revealing book chronicles Russia's dramatic reemergence on the world stage, illuminating the key reason for its rebirth: the use of its ever-expanding energy wealth to reassert its traditional great power ambitions. In his deft, informative narrative, Marshall Goldman traces how this has come to be, and how Russia is using its oil-based power as a lever in world politics. The book provides an informative overview of oil in Russia, traces Vladimir Putin's determined effort to reign in the upstart oil oligarchs who had risen to power in the post-Soviet era, and describes Putin's efforts to renationalize and refashion Russia's industries into state companies and his vaunted "national champions" corporations like Gazprom, largely owned by the state, who do the bidding of the state. Goldman shows how Russia paid off its international debt and has gone on to accumulate the world's third largest holdings of foreign currency reserves--all by becoming the world's largest producer of petroleum and the world's second largest exporter. Today, Vladimir Putin and his cohort have stabilized the Russian economy and recentralized power in Moscow, and fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) have made it all possible.
The story of oil and gas in Russia is a tale of discovery, intrigue, corruption, wealth, misguidance, greed, patronage, nepotism, and power.Marshall Goldman tells this story with panache, as only one of the world's leading authorities on Russia could.
Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction Russia - Once Again an Energy Superpower 1
Ch. 1 Russia as an Early Energy Superpower 17
Ch. 2 World War II to 1987: Russia Looks Inward and Outward 33
Ch. 3 Pirates Unleashed: Privatization in the Post-Soviet Era 55
Ch. 4 Post-1998 Recovery: The Petroleum Export Bonanza 73
Ch. 5 Putin Takes Over: The Return of the Czar 93
Ch. 6 Natural Gas: Russia's New Secret Weapon 136
Ch. 7 Russia: The Unrestrained Super Energy Power 170
Notes 211
Glossary of People and Companies 225
Index 231
Book review: Hugo Black or The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum
Servant Leadership 25th Anniversary
Author: Robert K Greenleaf
Robert K. Greenleaf, who died in 1990, has been a powerful voice in the dialogue to reshape management and leadership policy. He developed his theory of servent leadership while an executive at AT&T, and subsequently lectured at MIT, Harvard Business School, Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia. The Center for Applied Ethics, which he founded, eventually became the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, located in Indianapolis.
What People Are Saying
John Carver
I am convinced, as a governance theorist and practitioner, that responsible board behavior is impossible in the absence of the servant leadership Robert Greenleaf helped us all to understand. This Silver Anniversary edition of Servant Leadership is both symbol and substance on the shelf of anyone blessed with the opportunity to lead. (author of Boards That Make a Difference)
Sr. Joel Read
Robert Greenleaf conceived the idea of servant leadership during a time of chaos in the United States--the late 60's. But by exploring his idea in the multiple essays gathered in this book, he left a legacy by which people in very different times can continue to be inspired and motivated. The power of his idea and his evolving understanding and expression of it is forever available to us through this book. (President, Alverno College)
William Pollard
During the last quarter of a century, Robert Greenleaf and his writings have been used to instruct, encourage and motivate leaders to serve as they lead. We have all benefited from his work and have been reminded that no leader is greater than the people he or she leads, and even the humblest of tasks, just as Jesus taught his disciples over 2000 years ago, is worthy for a leader to do. (Chairman, Servicemaster, author ofThe Soul of the Firm)
Dee Hock
Servant Leadership is a timeless, classic book not only because there was no conflict between the man, Robert Greenleaf, his beliefs, his deeds and what he wrote about them, but because we know he was right, even when we fail to do it. (Founder and CEO Emeritus, VISA International )
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