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A gripping account of a fascinating — and little known — region. LeVine brings to life the tycoons, inventors, politicians and crooks of the Caspian.
The result is a vivid, compelling, and wonderfully written account of a crucial part of the world.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel laureate in economics
For years, Steve LeVine produced relentless, solid reporting about the southern tier of the former Soviet Union.
Here, he more than puts it all together. He takes the story to an historical level, thereby producing a great read about the Caspian oil boom.
Robert D. Kaplan, Author of "Balkan Ghosts"
No one knows the murky world of American politics, international oil and corporate corruption in the Caspian better than Steve LeVine.
This is an unforgettable story about forgettable fixers and forgettable governments out for the big bucks.
Seymour M. Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author
LeVine’s merry romp through the new oil Klondike of the 21st century is a page turner chronicling the exotic activities of oligarchs, oil majors, explorers, crooks, wheeler dealers, pipeline builders, and Caspian politicians. We will hear more about this colorful cast if Russia continues to flex its muscles on energy supplies in the region.
Jonathan Aitken, The American Spectator
If Steve LeVine's aim … was to chill us to the marrow about post-Communist Russia, he has succeeded.
LeVine's reconstruction of a savagely botched anti-terrorist operation at a Moscow theatre is particularly effective.
With fresh insights into the Chechen wars and Putin’s post-presidency plans, LeVine’s important take on the all-too-real machinations and bloodthirstiness from which espionage thrillers are made is both unnerving and intriguing.
Donna Seaman, Booklist
Posted by Logan Bayroff
Blackout: First India, then China? Astonishment has been one takeaway from India’s massive blackout, which by comparison is in the ballpark of a loss of power to the entirety of the United States and western Europe. Another reaction has been tut-tutting — we all knew that motley India, held together with more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
China’s moment of coal truth: A question that has vexed us for some time is when we will witness an inflection point in ordinary Chinese tolerance for the coal-borne pollution in their air. At that time, we have argued, we will likely also see a sharp turn away from coal consumption, more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
Less than a year after the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq, Baghdad is losing a primary lever over independent-minded Kurdistan — its grip on the northern region’s revenue-earning oil industry. Kurdistan’s secret weapon? Foreign oil companies are exasperated with Baghdad’s stinginess and allured by the Kurds’ more liberal terms for more…
Posted by Steve LeVine and Logan Bayroff
What is with superheroes and fission: No film is bigger this summer than the latest Batman offering, The Dark Knight Rises. While taking in the film, we couldn’t help but notice that clean energy is a central plot point — specifically, a nuclear fusion reactor that Bruce Wayne, more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
A mountain-top take on the flood: If Montana is a microcosm of the world, one message to glean is that we are not in the midst of a decades-long flood of oil supply in the United States, as many suggest. Instead, the red lights are blinking across the exuberant U.S. oil more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
No Russian oligarch has had a longer career stretch than Mikhail Fridman — enfant terrible, tormentor of foreign titans and, according to Forbes, the 43d richest man in the world. Now, this last pillar of no-holds-barred Russian capitalism is under threat, at least in the oil industry, where he has earned more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
Oligarchs in the Kremlin: For the last dozen years, we have seen ample evidence of Vladimir Putin’s policy on Russia’s oil and gas industry — a paramount strategic asset, it is to be jealously held, only begrudgingly ladled out to foreigners, and always, always to remain in firm Russian hands. That more…
Posted by Steve LeVine and Logan Bayroff
The West zigs, China zags: The West is erecting tariff barriers to prevent Chinese renewable energy companies from dumping their products. What is China’s reaction? To set its sights on the developing world. So far at least, this may be one of the few win-win areas in the more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
We are suffering whiplash: For nearly four decades, OPEC — the cartel formally known as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — has been a major economic and geopolitical force in our collective lives, driving nations to war, otherwise self-respecting world leaders to genuflect, and economists to shudder. The last half-dozen more…
Posted by Steve LeVine
The AWOL environmental lobby: Over the last several months, this blog has posted a series of lengthy contemplations of a momentous and unnerving new trend — the possibility of yet another in the century-and-a-half-long cycle of global oil and gas surpluses. According to a consensus of leading analysts, the world more…
