Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Barrels and bullets : the geostrategic significance of Russia’s oil and gas exports

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Bradshaw, Michael J. and Connolly, Richard (2016) Barrels and bullets : the geostrategic significance of Russia’s oil and gas exports. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 72 (3). pp. 156-164. doi:10.1080/00963402.2016.1170372 ISSN 1938-3282.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP_1273389-wbs-200616-barrels_and_bullets_bradshaw__connolly_bas_2016__22_02-16.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (551Kb) | Preview
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2016.1170372

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

In 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the hidden costs of what he was to later describe as the “military-industrial complex.” Ike said: “We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.” The leaders of today’s Russia face a twenty-first-century version of this dilemma, weighing the trade-off between spending on guns or butter. Russia’s own defense-industrial complex (known as the oboronnyi-promyshlennyi kompleks, or OPK) has been the recipient of billions of dollars in the past few years, as the state ordered new weapons such as the T-50 PAK-FA fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the Armata main battle tank, new nuclear-powered submarines, and strategic missiles. Should they continue the costly effort to remake their military into one of the most numerous and sophisticated forces in the world? Or should Russia’s leaders instead focus their efforts on investing in health, education, infrastructure, and other areas to help build a more dynamic and competitive economy? The answer to this question will be partially shaped by how much money Russia’s leaders will have to spend; with the crash in the value of oil exports – the unstable pillar of this Eurasian petro-state – what funds can they expect to draw upon? Decision-makers in the Kremlin will also be influenced by their perception of whether Russia faces a hostile geopolitical environment. If the current view prevails, it is possible that Russia’s leaders may choose to maintain military spending even as the economy sinks into stagnation.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DK Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Global Energy
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Petroleum industry and trade -- Russia, Petroleum -- Prices -- Industrial capacity, Natural gas, Gas industry , Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures, Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1952-
Journal or Publication Title: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Publisher: Routledge
ISSN: 1938-3282
Official Date: 15 April 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
15 April 2016Available
Volume: 72
Number: 3
Page Range: pp. 156-164
DOI: 10.1080/00963402.2016.1170372
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Date of first compliant deposit: 20 June 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access: 15 October 2017

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us