Robert W. Orttung

Business and Politics in the Russian Regions

Russian big business is converting its economic resources into political power at the regional level.

A limited toolbox: Explaining the constraints on Russia’s foreign energy policy

Explanations of Russias foreign energy policy typically focus on major events, such as the gas conflicts with Ukraine, and argue that these events represent simplistic patterns of behavior, reflecting the policy-makers’ emphasis on politics, commercial gain, corruption, or ad hoc opportunism. This analysis goes beyond these explanations to argue that the Russian leadership pursues a rational set of political and economic goals in its foreign energy policy, but that it is constrained in its efforts by the set of tools available to it. To understand the resulting patterns of behavior, it is necessary to devote more analytical attention to Russias foreign policy tools and their limits. The article draws on a new dataset of Russias policy tools in 31 energy conflicts with 20 countries from 2000 to 2010. These conflicts are defining moments in Russias foreign policy because they put to the test the toolkit that Russia has assembled to impose its will on a counterpart. The study finds increased use of transit pipelines, generally decreased use of subsidies and persistent use of efforts to purchase assets in foreign countries, cutoff pipeline supplies, and attempts to use energy to achieve specific political goals. By emphasizing the tools that Russian policy-makers use to conduct policies, the article provides a more nuanced analysis of the capacity and limits of Russian foreign energy policy than is currently available.

The 2014 Sochi Olympic mega-project and Russia's political economy

This article examines Russias political economy through the prism of mega-projects, using the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as a case study. Such projects help Russias leaders promote the countrys image abroad, define development priorities for Russias urban landscape, and gain support for the incumbent regime. Events like the Olympics help to justify Russias overall political and economic systems and to funnel state resources to specific regions. By setting investment goals and implementing projects through a closed system that allows for little public input and accountability, mega-projects create numerous corruption opportunities. Ultimately, this system works to benefit a small group of elites, with uncertain contributions to the larger population.

War of words: the impact of Russian state television on the Russian Internet

How effective is Russian state television in framing the conflict in Ukraine that began with the Euromaidan protests and what is its impact on Russian Internet users? We carried out a content analysis of Dmitrii Kiselevs “News of the Week” show, which allowed us to identify the two key frames he used to explain the conflict – World War II-era fascism and anti-Americanism. Since Kiselev often reduces these frames to buzzwords, we were able to track the impact of these words on Internet users by examining search query histories on Yandex and Google and by developing quantitative data to complement our qualitative analysis. Our findings show that much of what state media produces is not effective, but that the “fascist” and anti-American frames have had lasting impacts on Russian Internet users. We argue that it does not make sense to speak of competition between a “television party” and an “Internet party” in Russia since state television has a strong impact in setting the agenda for the Internet and society as a whole. Ultimately, the relationship between television and the Internet in Russia is a continual loop, with each affecting the other.

Urban sustainability in Russia's Arctic: lessons from a recent conference and areas for further investigations

Drawing on research presentations at a recent conference, this article presents a big picture overview of the factors determining urban sustainability in the Russian Arctic and lays out ideas for further study. It argues that there are two main drivers affecting the development of Russian Arctic cities: resource extraction and climate change. Russias responses to these drivers work through a number of mechanisms, including evolving decision-making processes, demography and migration policies, and international cooperation in the Arctic. In the area of Arctic urban sustainability, Russias leaders usually favor economic development over environmental protection while depriving city governments of the resources needed to address sustainability issues. The concluding section suggests avenues for further research designed to advance scholarly understanding and policy outcomes, including further refining our understanding of the drivers and policy-making process, comparative analysis, and focused case studies.