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Russia's Border Wars and Frozen Conflicts
by James J. CoyleThis book examines the origins and execution of Russian military and political activities in Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Using a realist perspective, the author concludes that there are substantial similarities in the four case studies: Russian support for minority separatist movements, conflict, Russian intervention as peacekeepers, Russian control over the diplomatic process to prevent resolution of the conflict, and a perpetuation of Russian presence in the area. The author places the conflicts in the context of international law and nationalism theory.
Russia's Changing Economic and Political Regimes: The Putin Years and Afterwards (Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy)
by Andrey Makarychev André MommenThe book reveals the interconnection between social, cultural and political protest movements and social and economic changes in a post-communist country like Russia still dominated by bureaucratic rulers and "oligarchs" controlling all basic industries and mining activities. Those interests are also dominating Russia’s foreign policy and explain why Russia did not succeed in becoming an integral part of Europe. The latter is, at least, wished by many Russian citizens.
Russia's Chechen War
by Tracey C. GermanWidespread media interest into the Chechen conflict reflects an ongoing concern about the evolution of federal Russia. Why did the Russian leadership initiate military action against Chechnya in December 1994 but against no other constituent part of the Federation? This study demonstrates that the Russian invasion represented the culmination of a crisis that was perceived to have become an increasing threat not only to the stability of the North Caucasus region, but also to the very foundations of Russian security. It looks closely at the Russian Federation in transition, following the collapse of the communist Soviet Union, and the implications of the 1991 Chechen Declaration of Independence in the context of Russia's democratisation project.
Russia's Cold War: From the October Revolution to the Fall of the Wall
by Jonathan HaslamThe phrase "Cold War" was coined by George Orwell in 1945 to describe the impact of the atomic bomb on world politics: "We may be heading not for a general breakdown but for an epoch as horribly stable as the slave empires of antiquity." The Soviet Union, he wrote, was "at once unconquerable and in a permanent state of 'cold war' with its neighbors." But as a leading historian of Soviet foreign policy, Jonathan Haslam, makes clear in this groundbreaking book, the epoch was anything but stable, with constant wars, near-wars, and political upheavals on both sides. Whereas the Western perspective on the Cold War has been well documented by journalists and historians, the Soviet side has remained for the most part shrouded in secrecy--until now. Drawing on a vast range of recently released archives in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and Eastern Europe, Russia's Cold War offers a thorough and fascinating analysis of East-West relations from 1917 to 1989. Far more than merely a straightforward history of the Cold War, this book presents the first account of politics and decision making at the highest levels of Soviet power: how Soviet leaders saw political and military events, what they were trying to accomplish, their miscalculations, and the ways they took advantage of Western ignorance. Russia's Cold War fills a significant gap in our understanding of the most important geopolitical rivalry of the twentieth century.
Russia's Communists At The Crossroads
by Joan UrbanThis book is about the evolution of the communist movement in the Russian Federation from the last years of the U.S.S.R.’s existence through Russia’s presidential elections of June july 1996, when the chief contenders were the incumbent president, Boris N. Yeltsin, and his communist challenger, Gennadii A. Ziuganov. Our main protagonist is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, or CPRF as it is commonly called. But the CPRF was a latecomer to the post-Soviet communist playing field. Its formal establishment came only in February 1993, well after the formation of a number of more doctrinaire communist parties which initially competed with the CPRF and influenced its political profile and conduct in numerous, if not always readily apparent, ways. All of these new Russian CPs emerged from the rubble of what had been the mighty and supposedly monolithic Communist Party ofthe Soviet Union (CPSU). On the Marxist-Leninist political spectrum, however, the range of the official positions espoused by these post-Soviet neocommunist groups was more comparable to that of the international communist movement as a whole in the post-Stalin era than to the CPSU under Nikita S. Khrushchev and Leonid I. Brezhnev.
Russia's Dangerous Texts: Politics between the Lines
by Kathleen F. ParthéRussia's Dangerous Texts examines the ways that writers and their works unnerved and irritated Russia's authoritarian rulers both before and after the Revolution. Kathleen F. Parthé identifies ten historically powerful beliefs about literature and politics in Russia, which include a view of the artistic text as national territory, and the belief that writers must avoid all contact with the state. Parthé offers a compelling analysis of the power of Russian literature to shape national identity despite sustained efforts to silence authors deemed subversive. No amount of repression could prevent the production, distribution, and discussion of texts outside official channels. Along with tragic stories of lost manuscripts and persecuted writers, there is ample evidence of an unbroken thread of political discourse through art. The book concludes with a consideration of the impact of two centuries of dangerous texts on post-Soviet Russia.
Russia's Dead End: An Insider's Testimony from Gorbachev to Putin
by Steven I. Levine Peter Reddaway Andrei A. KovalevElite-level Soviet politics, privileged access to state secrets, knowledge about machinations inside the Kremlin—such is the environment in which Andrei A. Kovalev lived and worked. In this memoir of his time as a successful diplomat serving in various key capacities and as a member of Mikhail Gorbachev’s staff, Kovalev reveals hard truths about his country as only a perceptive witness can do. In Russia’s Dead End Kovalev shares his intimate knowledge of political activities behind the scenes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Kremlin before and after the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, including the Russia of Vladimir Putin. Kovalev analyzes Soviet efforts to comply with international human-rights obligations, the machinations of the KGB, and the link between corrupt oligarchs and state officials. He documents the fall of the USSR, the post-Soviet explosion of state terrorism and propaganda, and offers a nuanced historical explanation of the roots of Russia’s contemporary crisis under Vladimir Putin. This insider’s memoir provides a penetrating analysis of late-Soviet and post-Soviet Russian politics that is pungent, pointed, witty, and accessible. It assesses the current dangerous status of Russian politics and society while illuminating the path to a more just and democratic future.
Russia's Economy: Signs of Progress and Retreat on the Transitional Road
by Thomas Lang Charles Wolf Jr.Sixteen years after the Soviet Union's demise, the Russian economy can still be appropriately characterized as transitional. The authors shed light on ambiguities surrounding this status through an exploration of four questions related to issues of interest to government decision-makers.
Russia's Engagement with the West: Transformation and Integration in the Twenty-First Century
by Lilia Shevtsova Alexander J. Motyl Blair A. RubleThe Putin and Bush presidencies, the 9/11 attack, and the war in Iraq have changed the dynamics of Russian-European-US relations and strained the Western alliance. Featuring contributions by leading experts in the field, this work is the first systematic effort to reassess the status of Russia's modernization efforts in this context. Part I examines political, economic, legal, and cultural developments in Russia for evidence of convergence with Western norms. In Part II, the contributors systematically analyze Russia's relations with the European Union, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the United States in light of new security concerns and changing economic and power relationships.
Russia's Entangled Embrace: The Tsarist Empire and the Armenians, 1801-1914
by Stephen Badalyan RieggRussia's Entangled Embrace traces the relationship between the Romanov state and the Armenian diaspora that populated Russia's territorial fringes and navigated the tsarist empire's metropolitan centers.By engaging the ongoing debates about imperial structures that were simultaneously symbiotic and hierarchically ordered, Stephen Badalyan Riegg helps us to understand how, for Armenians and some other subjects, imperial rule represented not hypothetical, clear-cut alternatives but simultaneous, messy realities. He examines why, and how, Russian architects of empire imagined Armenians as being politically desirable. These circumstances included the familiarity of their faith, perceived degree of social, political, or cultural integration, and their actual or potential contributions to the state's varied priorities.Based on extensive research in the archives of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yerevan, Russia's Entangled Embrace reveals that the Russian government relied on Armenians to build its empire in the Caucasus and beyond. Analyzing the complexities of this imperial relationship—beyond the reductive question of whether Russia was a friend or foe to Armenians—allows us to study the methods of tsarist imperialism in the context of diasporic distribution, interimperial conflict and alliance, nationalism, and religious and economic identity.
Russia's European Agenda and the Baltic States (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series #Vol. 19)
by Janina ŠleivyteRussian foreign policy has become an increasing concern in 21st century, together with Russia’s relations with its former Soviet neighbours - but its relations with the Baltic States are particularly sensitive, given the Baltic membership of NATO and the EU and Russia’s increasingly fractious relations with those institutions. This book discusses the development of Russia’s approach to the new security architecture in Europe and assesses the prospects for a more active engagement of Russia in the Baltic Sea region and Europe as a whole. The book considers the full range of issues affecting security, including energy, economic relations; the special position of Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave; and Russia’s special interest in the Russian minorities in the former Soviet Baltic states. The evolution of Russian-Baltic relations from 1990-2008 is set in the more general context of Russia’s European agenda, looking into the role and place of the Baltic States in this agenda. It provides a comparative analysis of the European agenda in of Russia’s foreign policy under Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, and concludes that, despite the replacement of the former Cold War stand-off with a more positive climate and a complicated array of bilateral and multilateral contacts much more still needs to be done to engage Russia fully with the new Europe
Russia's Fate Through Russian Eyes: Voices of the New Generation
by Heyward Isham Natan M. ShkylarFrom the book: The young Russian men and women who record in these pages the hopes, fears, triumphs, and tragedies their country has undergone in recent years-altering their own lives profoundly in the process-all come from the first post-Soviet generation to achieve positions of leadership in Russia. They report on five challenges central to Russia's survival and stabilization: reshaping the state, coping with new economic rules, striving toward the rule of law, building a civil society, and preserving the national culture and educational capacity. They love their country, while understanding all too well the crippling psychological legacy of seventy years of a dictatorship that was both cunning and cruel in dispensing a plausible Utopian myth and exacting extraordinary sacrifices in the name of that myth. They understand the acute sense of disorientation that overcame all generations when the USSR abruptly dissolved in 1991 and the Communist Party simultaneously lost much, if not all, of its power. As several of our authors recall, it was like waking up one morning and finding yourself a citizen of an entirely different country, meanwhile discovering that your parents were not your real parents and that you had acquired a brand new surname.
Russia's Federal Relations: Putin's Reforms and Management of the Regions (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies #Vol. 63)
by Elena ChebankovaThe development of centre-regional relations has been at the forefront of Russian politics since the formation of the Russian state and numerous efforts have been made by the country’s subsequent rulers to create a political model that would be suitable for the effective management of its vast territory and multiple nationalities. This book examines the origins, underlying foundations, and dynamics of the federal reforms conducted by President Putin throughout the eight years of his presidency. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the nature of Russia’s federal relations during this period, as well as an examination of factors that led to the development of the extant model of centre-regional dialogue. It discusses how and why the outcomes of most domestic reforms and policies significantly vary from the initial intentions envisaged by the federal centre, and argues that despite a range of positive developments the reforms resulted mainly in a redistribution of powers between the two levels of government and not in a fundamental rethinking of centre-regional relations towards genuine federalism.
Russia's Foreign Security Policy in the 21st Century: Putin, Medvedev and Beyond (Contemporary Security Studies)
by Marcel De HaasThis book examines Russia’s external security policy under the presidencies of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev and beyond.The Russian Federation has developed from a neglected regional power into a self-declared resurgent superpower. Russia’s background in the former Soviet Union as well as close ties with the upcoming new powers of China and India served as spring-boards towards regaining an influential status in the world. Simultaneously, Moscow developed an assertive policy towards the West and unwilling neighbours, culminating in August 2008 in an armed conflict with Georgia. Reviewing this decade of Russian international security policy, this work analyses security documents, military reforms and policy actions towards friends and foes, such as the USA and NATO, to provide an assessment of the future security stance of the Kremlin. This book will be of much interest to students of Russian politics and foreign policy, European politics and Security Studies and IR in general.
Russia's Gamble: The Domestic Origins of Russia's Attack on Ukraine
by Vladimir Gel'manIn February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine, aimed at re-establishing Russian control over the Ukrainian state, economy and society, similar in many ways to the Soviet period. This goal, however, was not achieved, and most likely will not be achieved in the future. Rather, the Russian “special military operation” has resulted in extraordinary disasters and losses for Russia, for Ukraine, and for the entire world. This book examines the origins of the Russian assault on Ukraine and offers an explanation of why it has not achieved its aims. Why did Russian elites and leaders propose, prepare for and implement the assault on Ukraine in such a poorly prepared and heavily destructive way? In seeking to answer these questions, Gel’man focuses on Russia’s domestic agenda and its dynamics after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The personalist nature of the Russian authoritarian political regime, its vulnerability to bad governance, major misperceptions by the Russian elites and leadership, and reliance of the Kremlin upon previous experience of Russian impunity were all key factors that led to Russia’s fateful decision to attack Ukraine and have continued to shape Russia’s mistake-ridden conduct of the war since then. Gel’man also considers what lessons can be learned from Russia’s military assault for understanding the global agenda and for the study of domestic and international politics in the twenty-first century. This book, written by a leading expert on Russian politics, will be of great value to students and scholars in politics and to anyone interested in Russia and in the causes and consequences of the war against Ukraine.
Russia's Geoeconomic Strategy for a Greater Eurasia (Rethinking Asia and International Relations)
by Glenn DiesenMoscow has progressively replaced geopolitics with geoeconomics as power is recognised to derive from the state’s ability to establish a privileged position in strategic markets and transportation corridors. The objective is to bridge the vast Eurasian continent to reposition Russia from the periphery of Europe and Asia to the centre of a new constellation. Moscow’s ‘Greater Europe’ ambition of the previous decades produced a failed Western-centric foreign policy culminating in excessive dependence on the West. Instead of constructing Gorbachev’s ‘Common European Home’, the ‘leaning-to-one-side’ approach deprived Russia of the market value and leverage needed to negotiate a more favourable and inclusive Europe. Eurasian integration offers Russia the opportunity to address this ‘overreliance’ on the West by using the Russia’s position as a Eurasian state to advance its influence in Europe. Offering an account steeped in Russian economic statecraft and power politics, this book offers a rare glimpse into the dominant narratives of Russian strategic culture. It explains how the country’s outlook adjusts to the ongoing realignment towards Asia while engaging in a parallel assessment of Russia’s interactions with other significant actors. The author offers discussion both on Russian responses and adaptations to the current power transition and the ways in which the economic initiatives promoted by Moscow in its project for a ‘Greater Eurasia’ reflect the entrepreneurial foreign policy strategy of the country.
Russia's Hero Cities: From Postwar Ruins to the Soviet Heroarchy
by Ivo MijnssenWorld War II, known as the Great Patriotic War to Russians, ravaged the Soviet Union and traumatized those who survived. After the war, memory of this anguish was often publicly repressed under Stalin. But that all changed by the 1960s. Under Brezhnev, the idea of the Great Patriotic War was transformed into one of victory and celebration. In Russia's Hero Cities, Ivo Mijnssen reveals how contradictory national recollections were revised into an idealized past that both served official needs and offered a narrative of heroism. This triumphant narrative was most evident in the creation of 13 Hero Cities, now located across Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. These cities, which were host to some of the fiercest and most famous battles, were named champions. Brezhnev's government officially recognized these cities with awards, financial contributions, and ritualized festivities. Their citizens also encountered the altered history at every corner—on manicured battlefields, in war memorials, and through stories at the kitchen table. Using a rich tapestry of archival material, oral history interviews, and newspaper articles, Mijnssen provides a thorough exploration of two cities in particular, Tula and Novorossiysk. By exploring the significance of Hero Cities in Soviet identity and the enduring but conflicted importance they hold for Russians today, Russia's Hero Cities exposes how the Great Patriotic War no longer has the power to mask the deep rifts still present in Russian society.
Russia's Impact on EU Policy Transfer to the Post-Soviet Space: The Contested Neighborhood (Routledge/UACES Contemporary European Studies)
by Esther AdemmerRussia's impact on EU policy transfer to the post-Soviet space has not been as negative as often perceived. EU policies have traveled to countries and issue areas, in which the dependence on Russia is high and Russian foreign policy is increasingly assertive. This book explores Russia's impact on the transfer of EU policies in the area of Justice, Liberty, and Security and energy policy - two policy areas in which countries in the EU's Eastern neighborhood are traditionally strongly bound to Russia. Focusing especially on Armenia and Georgia, it examines whether it is the structural condition of interdependence, the various institutional ties and similarities of neighboring countries with the EU and Russia, or their concrete foreign policy actions that have the greatest impact on domestic policy change in the region. The book also investigates how important these factors are in relation to domestic ones. It identifies conditions under which different degrees of EU policy transfer occur and the circumstances under which Russia exerts either supportive or constraining effects on this process. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of EU and European politics, international relations and comparative politics.
Russia's International Relations in the Twentieth Century
by Alastair Kocho-WilliamsRussia has long been a major player in the international relations arena, but only by examining the whole century can Russian foreign policy be properly understood, and the key questions as to the impact of war, of revolution, of collapse, the emergence of the Cold War and Russia’s post-Soviet development be addressed. Surveying the whole of the twentieth century in an accessible and clear manner Russia’s International Relations in the Twentieth Century provides an overview and narrative, with analysis, that will serve as an introduction and resource for students of Russian foreign policy in the period, and those who seek to understand the development of modern Russia in an international context. The volume includes: an analysis of the major themes which surrounded Russia’s position in world affairs as one of the European Great Powers before the First World War the impact of Revolution and the emergence of Soviet foreign policy with its dual aims of normalization and world revolution the changes wrought to the international order by the rise of Nazi Germany and by the Second World War the origins and development of the Cold War the end of the Cold War and the Soviet collapse how Russia has rebuilt itself as an international power in the post-Soviet era. An essential resource for students of Russian history and International policy.
Russia's Interventions in Ethnic Conflicts: The Case of Armenia and Azerbaijan
by James J. CoyleThis book explores the thirty-year border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, specifically around the former autonomous republic of Nagorno Karabakh, and shows how Russia is the only winner in this conflict: fighting on both sides, supplying arms to both sides, and acting as the arbiter between the two sides. The author looks at Armenia, Azerbaijan and the separatists from military, political, economic and diplomatic perspectives, and offers insights on how the fighting has influenced society, and vice versa. The book provides an update to the history of the war to include major fighting in 2020, and examines how Russia obtained three military bases and most economic assets in Armenia, while becoming Azerbaijan's major weapons supplier to the tune of six billion dollars. It shows how Russia has tried to sideline the internationally-supported Minsk negotiations in favor of Russia assuming the sole role of arbiter, and argues that even though Russia has submitted a number of ceasefire proposals, it does little to encourage the sides to implement them. The book includes a discussion of international law, United Nations Resolutions, and rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Economic Challenges, Embargo Issues and a New Global Economic Order
by Paul J. WelfensThis book presents a cutting-edge analysis of the economic effects and challenges of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a special focus on EU sanctions on Russian energy and Ukraine’s political relationship with the European Union in a global context. Welfens outlines key macroeconomic perspectives on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, highlighting in particular how sanctions posed by the international community will have a wider economic impact than what has so far been envisaged. The book discusses the effects of Russian gas supply boycotts against Western countries as well as global effects of an EU energy import boycott on Russia, especially for China and the Asian continent. An innovative proposal to cut electricity prices is presented. It also explores the challenges to relations between the EU, China and Russia caused by the invasion, the effects of the unfolding refugee crisis (within a post-Brexit EU), military and humanitarian aid pledges to Ukraine, and the risks of reduced multilateralism within the world economy as a direct result of the war. The book also analyses the risks and benefits of potential enlargement of the EU to integrate Ukraine as a member state. The topics covered by the book are all set within a long-run view of diplomatic and economic relations between the West, Russia and Ukraine. The factors analysed here provide a new, broader picture of the international effects of the conflict, as well as its potential implications for policy design as we enter a new global order marked by the Russo-Ukrainian war. The book will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers working in international economics, new political economy, European politics and integration, and macroeconomics more broadly.
Russia's Market Economy: A Bad Case of Predatory Capitalism
by Stefan HedlundRussia's Market Economy is a seminal account of Russia's transition to the market, its tortuous development as a fledgling market economy through the 1990s, right through to its spectacular collapse in August 1998. Rather than beginning with the economic collapse, the book traces the historical mismanagement of Russian wealth through to the Soviet command economy, and on to Gorbachev. Stefan Hedlund finally discusses what lessons should be learned from the damage inflicted on the Russian economy, as well as its social, legal and political infrastructure, by the race of reform.
Russia's Military Interventions: Patterns, Drivers, and Signposts (Research report)
by Samuel Charap Edward Geist Frederick, Bryan Drennan, John J. Chandler, Nathan Kavanagh, JenniferDespite Russia’s relatively small global economic footprint, it has engaged in more interventions than any other U.S. competitor since the end of the Cold War. In this report, the authors assess when, where, and why Russia conducts military interventions by analyzing the 25 interventions that Russia has undertaken since 1991, including detailed case studies of the 2008 Russia-Georgia War and Moscow’s involvement in the ongoing Syrian civil war.
Russia's Missing Middle Class: The Professions in Russian History
by Harley D. BalzerThis work describes the emergence of the professions in late tsarist Russia and their struggle for autonomy from the aristocratic state. It also examines the ways in which the Russian professions both resembled and differed from their Western counterparts.
Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin: The Demise of the Soviet System and the New Russia
by David Kotz Fred WeirOver the past few years, many of the former Communist-rule countries of Central and Eastern Europe have taken a steady path toward becoming more or less normal capitalist countries - with Poland and Hungary cases in point. Russia, on the other hand, has experienced extreme difficulties in its attempted transition to capitalism and democracy. The pursuit of Western-endorsed policies of privatization, liberalization and fiscal austerity have brought Russia growing crime and corruption, a distorted economy and a trend toward authoritarian government. In their 1996 book - Revolution from Above - David Kotz and Fred Weir shed light on the underlying reasons for the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union and the severe economic and political problems of the immediate post-Soviet period in Russia. In this new book, the authors bring the story up-to-date, showing how continuing misguided policies have entrenched a group of super-rich oligarchs, in alliance with an all-powerful presidency, while further undermining Russia's economic potential. New topics include the origins of the oligarchs, the deep penetration of crime and corruption in Russian society, the financial crisis that almost destroyed the regime, the mixed blessing of an oil-dependent economy, the atrophy of democracy in the Yeltsin years, and the recentralization of political power in the Kremlin under President Putin.