London: Routledge, 2021. 164 pp. (Illustrations.) US$160.00, cloth; US$50.00, ebook. ISBN 9781003128045.
No other raw material has been as critical for national security as oil, a highly political commodity in international affairs, and a primary driving force for international cooperation and negotiation. With this in mind, author Anna Kuteleva explores China’s energy relations with its two neighbouring oil and gas suppliers, Kazakhstan and Russia, in her seminal book China’s Energy Security and Relations with Petrostates: Oil as an Idea. Employing the lens of discursive construction, Kuteleva argues that the bilateral energy relationship is dynamic and interactive in nature in the sense that discursive practices by powerful agents play a supremely significant role in the formation of bilateral relations. In her view, a state’s conceptualization of oil in relation to energy security in its official discourse constructs not only bilateral relations but also national identities. This constructive perspective offers an alternative analytical approach to conventional energy relations studies.
As for her theoretical framework, the author begins with a critique of classic IR theories in international energy research, realism, and liberalism, followed by an elaboration of her constructivist approach to energy relations. She counters the misleading logics of the two approaches—focusing on incentives driven by energy security—by arguing that security issues related to energy are by no means solely founded on material reality, but instead are framed by powerful agents. To bridge the gap, this book provides an alternative approach by exploring how various energy issues are narrated as matters of security by agents. For instance, by analyzing the intertextual interaction of official and socio-cultural discourses such as government documents and media reports in the three countries, the author illustrates how the notion of energy security is constructed as a fact. Further, drawing on constructive and poststructuralist insights, Kuteleva reveals that agents’ identity matters in international energy politics, as identity is seen as a causal variable to explain the logic of appropriateness in energy relations.
As to the content, this book unfolds along two lines, i.e., China’s energy paradigm and its bilateral relations with Russia and Kazakhstan. In China’s energy paradigm, a stable and sufficient energy supply is essential to development, and so a top priority for China’s energy security. Besides, China’s energy paradigm is binary, and driven by energy security. At the domestic level, its goal remains to pursue energy self-reliance, with an emphasis on a reliable and self-sufficient production capability. At the international level, China’s strategy highlights its win-win cooperation with oil-rich developing countries and champions the fair right to energy sources among developing countries. Other developing countries are viewed as allies who should defend their right to the availability of energy resources, while the Global North is seen as the “other,” who should be held responsible for unequal international energy relations. On behalf of the Global South, China strives to be a trendsetter in international energy politics aimed at guarding global energy security. With regards to bilateral relations, on the one hand, China wishes to establish a strategic business partnership with the two other countries for mutual benefit and shared goals of development. On the other hand, Russia and Kazakhstan are vigilant in regards to China’s dominant role in their energy sector and see it as a threat to their dominion in international energy politics.
All in all, one of the strengths of this book is that it systemically identifies agents through discourse analysis. The author captures what and how diverse identities are constructed by states to sort out intricate energy relations. Specifically, the realities of energy production and consumption are treated as material referents to label identity as they gain meaning only in the process of narrative-making by agents. In unraveling the agent identities, Kuteleva focuses on narrative-attributing to energy sources, including what is energy/oil and who are “we” and “they” as related to energy/oil? In addition, considering what “we” and “they” are going to do with energy is proposed as a way of examining identity formation, which places it in the context of international relations practice and offers a roadmap for studying energy relations.
This book is also laudable for its intertextual analysis and the author’s proficiency in intercultural communication. Kuteleva not only examines official discourse but also cultural discourse, such as films, music, and, poetry in the social contexts of China, Russia, and Kazakhstan, which can embody the interaction of various discourses and the dynamic discursive construction of the states’ identities. Furthermore, she is an accomplished bilingual researcher and well acquainted with three countries’ socio-cultural contexts, granting her an unparalleled advantage for comprehensive analysis.
As to limitations, this study could have been strengthened in the following ways. The book only addresses oil, a conventional fossil fuel, in examining international energy relations. But in the age of carbon neutrality, renewable energy should also be taken as a major player in current energy politics. Also, more linguistic analytical frameworks, such as discursive strategies for identity construction and their linguistic realizations, could have been employed as text analysis instruments, which would be more revealing than content analysis. As a whole, this book stands out for its distinctive analytical approach to international relations studies. It disentangles interwoven energy relations and clarifies China’s orientation in global energy politics by unpacking the multiple symbolic meanings attributed to oil. It provides a valuable referent for international energy relations studies.
Weiling Huang and Xiufeng Zhao
China University of Petroleum, Beijing