This book addresses Russia's new assertiveness and the role of energy as a key factor in shaping the country's behavior in international relations and in building political and economic power domestically since the 1990s. '...an important first step toward clarifying the relationship between energy and foreign policy. The book is valuable for its synoptic coverage of the major dimensions of the energy instrument in Russian politics.' - The Russian Review, Jan 2009, Vol.69, No.1, 182