All Quiet on the Eastern Front

Author(s): Nina Poussenkova
Editor(s): Jeronim Perovic, Robert Orttung, Matthias Neumann, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 33
Pages: 13-18
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2008

A priority of Russia's energy policy is to diversify oil and gas exports, which are currently focused on the stagnating European markets, by entering the Asian energy market and accessing consumers as far away as the US. Since the fields of West Siberia are all mature and declining, Russia needs to develop new oil and gas fields in East Siberia and the Far East, which are located closer to potential customers in Asia. The imperative to turn east is also determined by Russia's urge to revitalize its eastern territories and is thus in line with a broader national security agenda to develop a region which was long neglected. Geopolitically, Russia needs to build new relations with China, India and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR). Therefore, an eastern energy strategy will have to cope with a tangled web of economic, social, political and geopolitical considerations.

Download:

English (PDF)