Since 1991, Russia has tapped its huge resources to transform itself from a minor, albeit important global energy player to one of the two largest producers in the world. Likewise, the states of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia are transforming themselves from potential to real global powers. As they do, formerly relatively remote energy relationships -- with consumers such as Europe, China, Pakistan, and India, and with other producers -- are edging towards center-stage. And so too are issues that formerly rarely troubled outsiders, issues such as human rights, corporate governance, labor relations, corruption, and social stability.
This RFE/RL special report, stretching back to 1997, documents the variety and complexity of energy politics and policies across the former Soviet Union as they become matters of increasing global concern. These years of reports, features, and analyses also test one of the abiding quotes of the 19th-century German statesman Otto van Bismarck. "The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia," he is reported to have said.
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