Russia and Energy Security in the Asia-Pacific Region

This article examines the role and importance of Russia in reconciling the growing shortage of energy in the Asia-Pacific region. It is argued that Russia’s role has been ignored in the existing literature on energy issues and on regional economic cooperation. The author criticizes other analysts for being too pessimistic about prospects for East Asian energy cooperation with Russia. In this context, special attention is given to recent positive trends and events that have seriously influenced regional energy cooperation, especially new agreements between Russia and China, Japan, and other countries. The article discusses these issues from a Russian perspective. It concludes that the advent of Eugani Primakov to the prime ministership might be a turning point in Russian cooperation on energy with Asia-Pacific countries.