Steve LeVine covers foreign affairs for Business Week. He previously was correspondent for Central Asia and the Caucasus for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for 11 years. His first book, The Oil and the Glory, a history of the former Soviet Union through the lens of oil, was published in October 2007. Putin’s Labyrinth, his new book, profiles Russia through the lives and deaths of six Russians. The updated paperback was released in April 2009.
To Install the O&G Newsfeed on Your Site, Click "Get Widget" Below
Videos and Podcasts from The Oil and the Glory
A Blog on Russia, Energy, the Caspian and Beyond
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Feud splits Kazakh ruling family
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has fired his son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev from the Foreign Service in what appears to be a growing power struggle.
Earlier, Mr Aliyev accused the leader of trying to silence him after he said he planned to run for the presidency.
What started as a family disagreement is now a major political scandal.
Earlier this week, President Nazarbayev ordered a criminal investigation into allegations his son-in-law was behind the kidnapping of two senior bankers.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, who prides himself on leading the most advanced and democratic country in Central Asia, may have just become president for life.
The Kazakh parliament voted overwhelmingly to allow Mr Nazarbayev to run for office as many times as he likes.
"The government just spat into our faces," said Yevgeny Zhovtis, Kazakhstan-based analyst and human rights defender "It's sad, it's disappointing, and it shows that they are creating an increasingly authoritarian system."
A gripping account of a fascinating — and little known — region.
LeVine brings to life the tycoons, inventors, politicians
and crooks of the Caspian.
The result is a vivid, compelling, and
wonderfully written account of a crucial part of the world.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel laureate in economics
For years, Steve LeVine produced relentless, solid
reporting about the southern tier of the former
Soviet Union.
Here, he more than puts it all together. He takes the story to an historical level,
thereby producing a great read about the Caspian oil boom.
Robert D. Kaplan, Author of "Balkan Ghosts"
No one knows the murky world of American politics, international oil and
corporate corruption in the Caspian better than Steve LeVine.
This is an unforgettable story about forgettable fixers and forgettable governments out
for the big bucks.
Seymour M. Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author
LeVine’s merry romp through the new oil Klondike of the 21st century is a page turner chronicling the exotic activities of oligarchs, oil majors, explorers, crooks, wheeler dealers, pipeline builders, and Caspian politicians. We will hear more about this colorful cast if Russia continues to flex its muscles on energy supplies in the region.
With fresh insights into the Chechen wars and Putin’s post-presidency plans, LeVine’s important take on the all-too-real
machinations and bloodthirstiness from which espionage thrillers are made is both unnerving and intriguing.
