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Abstract: This article examines Boris Nemtsov's political activities and ideas in connection with the disintegration of Communism, the rise and fall of the Democratic Movement and the rise of Putinism. [...]

Abstract: President Vladimir Putin's domination of Russia's politics, coupled with the apparent stability of the regime, have contributed to the relative neglect of domestic politics in explaining Russia's foreign policy. [...]

Because of the decrease in domestic production in Europe, additional natural gas volumes will be required. In addition to Nord Stream, the major import pipeline projects, Nabucco and South Stream, [...]

This article examines the ongoing natural gas revolution and assesses its impact on the energy industry and societies of Central Asia. The natural gas revolution consists of three related technological developments--hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling, and the increasing build-out of the world liquid natural gas (LNG) infrastructure. For this article, Central Asia is taken as the five 'Stans' that were formerly part of the Soviet Union but that are now independent countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The article focuses on Turkmenistan and its rich reserves of natural gas and explores the conditions under which Turkmenistan currently reaches international markets through pipelines to China, Iran, and Russia. It also assesses Turkmenistan's future prospects for reaching additional world markets and for sustaining the markets it presently serves. Finally, the article analyzes the difficulties that Turkmenistan's gas industry, and other Central Asia energy industries, are likely to face and the implications these continuing energy industry tribulations will have for social development in Central Asia. Key Words: Energy; Natural gas; Natural gas revolution; Liquid natural gas; LNG; Central Asia; LNG; Pipelines; China; Iran; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan;Social development., I. Introduction This paper assesses the impact of the so-called natural gas revolution on the countries of Central Asia, taken as the five 'Stans' of the former Soviet Union-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, [...]

A noted American economist and specialist on the economies of the former Soviet Union presents the results of his research on the Eurasian network of natural gas pipelines. While the focus is on the political economy of network interdependence, the author covers in considerable detail the political significance of Russia's substantial market power and its efforts to enhance that power in 2007 and 2008. More specifically, he highlights Gazprom's role both as a supplier of natural gas to Europe and as the core of a monopoly controlling exports of natural gas from Russia and Central Asia by expropriating and/or blocking foreign ownership of natural gas reserves as well as production and transportation facilities in Russia. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: FIO0, F230, L950, P330, Q400. 11 figures, 1 table, 51 references. Key words: Russia, China, Central Asia, European Union, Middle East, natural gas, liquified natural gas, oil, pipelines, Gazprom, natural gas monopoly, natural gas monopsony.