The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich

economic and political landscape in a given moment. Unfortunately, there seems to exist an underlying trend for more regulation. Whenever there is a problem somewhere, even if it’s a single event affecting few people, as long as it gets enough publicity, some politician will clamor for a new regulation or law.
    Will the world be more globalized or less globalized?
The world will be more globalized. Whatever people pretend,globalization is not really a recent invention. Cross-border trade has been around since people started traveling and exchanging goods.
    How do you see the Russian policy regarding oil and other commodities?
The Russians are looking firstly for themselves. You can’t really blame them for that.
    Foreign energy companies in Russia such as Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum were forced to sell their stakes to the state companies. Do we witness a renationalization of the commodity markets in Russia?
We are indeed seeing a renationalization of certain strategic sectors.
    How should the West react to this policy?
The West is not in a good position to criticize the Russian policy. You have only to read the newspapers to see that other countries are equally protective of their pet companies and “national champions.”
    How do you see Russia’s future?
You have to separate the noise from the music. The music is that Russia will slowly, slowly drift in the same direction—by and large—as most developing nations: toward democracy and market economy. We live in an age of instant and all-encompassing information and relative freedom of movement. This means that politicians can’t fool people like they used to.
    China has become both a major supplier and consumer of commodities.
The Chinese government needs to provide a billion people with food, energy, housing, transportation, et cetera, and they want to catch up with the developed countries. This means they will want to control as much oil and other commodities as they can lay their hands on.
    How will this change the commodity markets and politics?
China is a political and strategic player before an economic one. This will clearly have an impact on the market, as most other market participants are guided purely by economic principles.
    You were trading with the Chinese much earlier than others. What is special or easy or difficult about doing business with the Chinese?
They play by different rules than the Western companies. Whoever believes he can force his rules and his values on a Chinese businesspartner will be disappointed by the result. If you can play their game, you can have success.
    China’s policy regarding commodities is considered quite aggressive. It is investing billions in Sudan and Zimbabwe, whereas American companies generally steer clear of investment. What is your opinion?
China has the critical mass of a world power. It is simply too big and economically too important to be bullied or boycotted. The Chinese are obviously fully aware of this and use it smartly to their advantage.
    Are the Europeans, when it comes to securing the supply of commodities, naive?
They are not naive, but contrary to the centralistic-run China, where the political power is largely in sync with the economic power, the Europeans simply cannot speak with one voice or act as one entity.
    Why do you think it is acceptable to do business with countries and governments that are not exactly beacons of democracy and human rights?
Take China or Vietnam as an example. If you sell them computers, mobile phones, and TVs, they will be able to see what is going on in the world. They will be able to form their own independent opinions, which is the most important thing for any democracy. By trading goods with these countries, you actually help their citizens. The more contacts there are, the better the chance for everybody to improve.
    One could argue that doing business with such regimes is morally wrong because it only supports them.
The Cubans as a people, for example, are not “bad,” but because of the U.S. embargo many children and old people must suffer unnecessarily. Yet the forty-seven-year-old embargo has not succeeded in removing Fidel Castro.
    Can there be democracy without free markets? And vice versa—can there be free markets without democracy?
Free markets can exist temporarily without democracy. However, thecombination of free markets and modern means of communication such as the Internet, which free markets always adopt immediately, will