Constructing the National Interest: The Energy Charter Treaty and Transformations in Russian Foreign Energy Policy.

This paper explains the transformation of Russian foreign policy concerning the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by focusing on key decision makers’ conception of the Russian national interest in this policy area. The ECT is a multilateral, intergovernmental legal agreement governing the international exchange of energy. It is the largest and most important legal instrument governing international energy markets.Based on the analysis of key actors’ statements made during January, 2000 to December, 2003, the paper argues that the policy change cannot be explained by structural realism, theories of democracy, leadership, or culture. Instead, the paper argues that Russian policy changed because of a transformation in decision makers’ conception of the national interest. The national interest changed due to a conjuncture of three processes: 1) the production of new knowledge by opponents of the ECT and especially Gazprom, 2) the appointment of a close associate of President Putin to the head of Gazprom which created an effective lobbyist against the ECT , and 3) policy events produced by the EU that became discursive resources for opponents to argue effectively against the ECT. The contributions of this paper are three-fold. The transformation of ECT policy presents a “critical case” that adjudicates between structural realism and constructivism. It also elaborates the theoretical mechanism by which ideas change. Finally, it points to an important transformation in the architecture of the international system, to a contest over the structure of international energy markets, and to the erosion of the hegemony of neo-liberal thinking in Russia. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]