Bureaucratic Decision Making System in Russian Energy Politics

Formation of OPEC and exploiting petroleum as pressure tool by Arabian countries for countering with Zionist Regime during early 70th century was a prominent example of petroleum’s political significance. In order to prevent the reduction of petroleum exportation during Cold War era, the USSR tried to reduce the importance of its political dimension. Following the collapse of USSR and surmount of liberalism and occidentalization during Yeltsin era, the petroleum maintained its unpolitical nature. Still since the beginning of Putin’s presidency, especially after the ignite of the new cold war following Iraq’s occupation in 2003, Russian Federation was gradually inclined to convert petroleum from an economic instrument to a political and even security one. The Energy Strategy of Russia for the period up to 2020 articulates that energy resources are the main instruments for driving Russia’s exterior and interior politics. Against this backdrop, the present article is trying to find out the main reason for Russia to exploit energy resources as a political instrument. Using the theoretical framework of bureaucratic decision making, the authors argue that interior bureaucratic considerations including balance of power, as well as internal conflicts in Putin’s government, are the main reasons for the mentioned question. The internal power relationship especially the core role of petroleum companies in Russia’s governmental decision making has led to the weaponization of energy.