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Examines how civil society, public debate and freedom of speech affect natural resource governance. Drawing on the theories of Robert Dahl, Jurgen Habermas and Robert Putnam, the book introduces the concept of 'public brainpower', proposing that good institutions require: fertile public debate involving many and varied contributors to provide a broad base for conceiving new institutions; checks and balances on existing institutions; and the continuous dynamic evolution of institutions as the needs of society change. The book explores the strength of these ideas through case studies of 18 oil and gas-producing countries: Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, UAE, UK and Venezuela.

This chapter is a product of the EUNOR project, financed by the Research Council of Norway's programme 'Europe in Transition (EUROPA)', and theRusCasp project, financed by the Research Council of Norway's programme PETROSAM ; publishedVersion

This chapter is an empirical analysis of energy cooperation between China and Russia, centred on the Ukrainian crisis as a defining event of the partnership. Despite China's officially neutral political stance on Crimea, the increased frequency of meetings to discuss joint energy projects and the signing of the largest energy deal in world history created the impression that China actively stepped in and supplied the necessary financing to get Russia through sanctions over Crimea and the oil price collapse of 2014–2016. The chapter assesses this hypothesis by examining the long-term trends in lending, investments and trade trends between the two countries, and by taking a closer look at Chinese involvement in four concrete energy projects managed by some of the main Russian energy companies: Power of Siberia, Yamal LNG, Vankor and ESPO. While there is evidence of increased Chinese investments in Russia and a surge of Russian oil imports to China after the annexation, the authors conclude that China was not the major force keeping Russia's wheels turning during the pre- and post-Crimea years. The involvement of China in the major Russian energy projects was planned and negotiated long before the annexation of Crimea. The authors therefore argue that China did not step in to bankroll Russia after Crimea, instead long-term trends in cooperation simply continued. On the other hand, clearly the long-term growth in cooperation between the two countries reduces Russia's dependency on the West and provides greater elbowroom for its foreign policy. ; Did China Bankroll Russia's Annexation of Crimea? The Role of Sino-Russian Energy Relations ; publishedVersion

Zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz in Russland sollten die Subventionen gestrichen und der Energiepreis erhöht werden, um so einen Anreiz zum Energiesparen zu geben. Die Meinung ist verbreitet, dass die russländischen Behörden davor zurückscheuten, den Gaspreis für Privathaushalte zu erhöhen, weil sie die politischen Konsequenzen fürchteten. Es ist schwierig, exakt zu erfassen, wie hoch der Gasverbrauch der Privathaushalte ist und wie stark er subventioniert wird. Doch angesichts des demographischen und kulturellen Wandels sowie der gestiegenen Haushaltseinkommen ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass der Gaspreis zu einem konfliktträchtigen Thema werden könnte. (Osteuropa (Berlin) / SWP)