In Double-Edged Sword, the author tantalizingly explores the connections between different tacks of energy policy and different political outcomes. After the recent war between Russia and Georgia and the damaging energy disputes between Russia and Ukraine, energy policy has come to the forefront. Russia is characterized as aggressive, but the reality is much more complex than that. Russia's war with Georgia, in addition to Russia's continued wrangling with Ukraine, is partly a result of different energy strategies employed by Russia. With outcomes varying so widely across the diverse post-Soviet space, Double-Edged Sword lucidly examines both the varying preconditions and differing political responses from both Russia and its neighbors, oft-ignored but vital in creating different outcomes.