Authors

Anna Kuteleva¹;  ¹ University of Wolverhampton, UK

Discussion

In the mid-2000s, the control of energy resources emerged as both the means and ends of political power at the domestic level, while becoming a cornerstone of Vladimir Putin's project restoring Russia’s international status that was lost during the 1990s. As oil prices soared the complex and often contradictory ambitions of Russia's political elite for the nation's role on the global stage coalesced around the concept of an "energy superpower." Within this discourse, the possession of abundant energy resources and control over energy streams automatically positioned Russia as a significant player in international affairs. Consequently, energy resources were socially instrumentalized, serving as a primary source of national economic growth, pride, power, and independence, as well as a stable foundation for mutually beneficial relationships with other countries.

Post-2011, Putin's regime shifted its focus towards building identity through religion, patriotism, military achievements, and defending the rights of ethnic Russians. This evolution in how Russia represented itself continued to unfold following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, with further pronounced changes in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the discourse of the energy superpower persists and continues to shape Russia's self-representations, as well as the hierarchy of its domestic and foreign policy objectives.

This paper aims to explore the shifts and continuities in Russia's discursive politics of energy, with a particular focus on two interconnected questions that underscore the pivotal role of identity representations in shaping and debating Russia's strategies in international energy politics:

How do diverse and multifaceted interpretations of energy contribute to the construction of Russia's identity in the realm of international relations?

To what extent and with what consequences do these interpretations influence Russia's energy diplomacy with its most significant energy partners, the European Union (EU) and China?