Publication

This publication discusses the relationship between Russian foreign policy priorities and those of the country's international business elite, primarily in energy. The author argues that business oligarchs were influential in the re-election of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1996 but since that time President Vladimir Putin has enhanced the power of the state over them. He concludes that the business lobby is only one of many factors influencing Russian foreign policy and is unlikely to be the decisive driving force.