Finally finished reading this book.
Pretty good one, although I disagree with his take on mineral rights in Russia. I see no problem with foreign companies purchasing land to mine etc. I'm not really a big believer in sovereignty (of the state) - not really interested in trading one ruler for another - it's much of a muchness.
Otherwise, it's a great book, the best is the overlay of pipelines in Russia and then points of conflict in terms of US meddling. Very telling why certain states are of "NATO interest" or "why these Arabs need liberating".