Russian & Former Soviet Union

In post-Soviet Russian politics, Boris Nemtsov is one of the most tragic figuresand not only because he was shot dead, at the age of 56, in close vicinity to the Kremlin, the locus of Russias power. The transparency of evil in this specific case was...

This book aims to explain the reasons behind Russia's international conduct in the post-Soviet era, examining Russian foreign policy discourse with a particular focus on the major foreign policy schools of Atlanticism, Eurasianism, derzhavniki,...

Using the Russian presidents major public addresses as the main source, Bo Petersson analyses the legitimization strategies employed during Vladimir Putins third and fourth terms in office. The argument is that these strategies have rested on Putins...

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was perhaps the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. As stated by historian J. Arch Getty, 'Lenin deserves a lot of credit for the notion that the meek can inherit the earth, that there can be a political movement based on...

In early 2014, sparked by an assault by their government on peaceful students, Ukrainians rose up against a deeply corrupt, Moscow-backed regime. Initially demonstrating under the banner of EU integration, the Maidan protesters proclaimed their right to...

In this new updated version of The Caucasus, Thomas de Waal introduces readers to this complex region. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the breakaway territories that have tried to split away from them constitute one of the most diverse and challenging...

In the course of Vladimir Putin's third presidential term, many of the doctrines and ideas associated with Eurasianism have moved to the center of public political discourses in Russia. Eurasianism, both Russian and non-Russian, is politically active ...

The Kremlin has sought to establish an exclusive Russian sphere of influence in the nations lying between Russia and the EU, from Georgia in 2008 to Ukraine in 2014 and Belarus in 2020. It has extended its control by means of military intervention,...

Zinaida Poliakova (1863-1953) was the eldest daughter of Lazar Solomonovich Poliakov, one of the three brothers known as the Russian Rothschilds. They were moguls who dominated Russian finance and business and built almost a quarter of the railroad lines...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has implemented a set of policies toward his neighbors intended to help him re-establish his country's status as a major world power. These have included dominating, as far as possible, the independent states that once...

Now fully updated and revised, this clear and comprehensive text explores the past thirty years of Soviet/Russian international relations, comparing foreign policy formation under Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Medvedev, and Putin. Challenging conventional views of...

Western academics, politicians, and military leaders alike have labelled Russia's actions in Crimea and its follow-on operations in Eastern Ukraine as a new form of "Hybrid Warfare." In this book, Kent DeBenedictis argues that, despite these...

The geopolitics of post-communist Europe are not only important for Ukraine itself, but ultimately also for the future of the continent as a whole. This concerns the interactions between Kyiv, on the one hand, and the capitals of East-Central Europe as...

Taking a unique qualitative approach to studying Russian political culture, this book presents an in-depth analysis of the attitudes and activities of residents in two provincial capitals, Syktyvkar and Kirov. It shows evidence of underlying democracy in...

The Russian Federation on December 12, 1993, held its first national election since the collapse of Soviet Communism. The election, to a new, two-chamber parliament, was accompanied by a constitutional referendum. It followed months of wrangling over...

The Soviet Union and the communist ideology on which it was founded were central to a great number of people's lives and pivotal to international relations for decades, most clearly in giving rise to the Cold War. Soviet Communism provided an alternative...

The war in Syria has put Russia at the centre of Middle Eastern politics. Moscow's return to the region following a prolonged period of absence has enhanced its geopolitical status at a time it has emerged as a rival to the West. Yet, contrary to the...

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How have countries in the EU that were previously under Communist rule influenced the creation of a European policy towards other Post-Soviet nations? This study explores countries including the Czech Republic and Poland and shows how they have helped...

Prozorov offers a radical reinterpretation of contemporary Russian politics in terms of Agamben's philosophy. Reconstructing Agamben's conception of the end of history, that challenges the Hegelian thesis, Prozorov approaches post-communist Russia as a...

The vivid discussion on civil society in Eastern Europe that flourished during the late 1980s and early 1990s has faded somewhat, and been partly replaced by new attempts to conceptualise the nature of social change taking place in these countries. This...

Russian rethinking of the past has immense political significance. The author of the acclaimed Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution now examines the impact of the collapse of Communism and of the subsequent disillusionment with capitalism on Soviet...

This book provides a narrative and analysis of the first four years of the Gorbachev phenomenon. All areas of great significance are covered. Special attention is paid to the economy, nationality affairs and foreign affairs. Gorbachev's standing abroad...

Russia has never been able to escape its relationship with Europe, or Europe with Russia. Geography and history have conspired to make them both neighbors and unavoidable factors in each other s daily lives. From the early 1700s until the collapse of the...

This work explores Russian life in Northern Manchuria during the period of political, economic and social upheaval, leading to its eventual de facto control by Japan, and disruption of the balance of power in the Northeast Asian Region. Presenting a...

This is the first comprehensive study of the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe which includes the processes in party-formation, political culture-building, institution-building and economic transformation, and to differentiate between areas and...

Providing a current assessment of the major developments in Russian foreign policy since the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the book begins with an examination of the emerging trends in Russian policy and the impact of domestic...

Since 1985 Russia has experienced a dramatic cultural and social revolution. Rosalind Marsh presents the first study encompassing one important aspect of this process, that is the major part which literature has played in reassessing the past,...

This book surveys the Ukrainian-EU relationship in light of the legacies of more than two hundred years of direct Russian rule. It examines interrelationships between identities, loyalties and political/cultural orientations, reviews policies, and...

Rangsimaporn argues that Russia aspires to become a great power and tries to achieve this through utilizing its position as a Eurasian country, with vast territories in East Asia, its economic assets, primarily arms and energy, and careful management of...

This volume analyzes the changing power relations in the Russian regions and in their relationship with the centre. It considers Russian federalism and the changes that Putin has introduced, and the distribution of power at the regional level. The result...

The collapse of communism and the disintegration of the USSR, created a new geopolitical reality, a new international environment, and a new set of international relations. This book is about Russia's foreign relations. It examines the factors that...

Russia has recently re-emerged as the dominant political, economic and military actor in former Soviet nations. Kanet and Freire bring together a stellar cast of contributors to consider Russia's recent return as a major regional and international actor...

This volume provides a cross-national analysis of the changing identities of various national and ethnic groups, their new political influence in the emergent democracies and their efforts to revive suppressed cultures. It begins with a theoretical...

The Macedonian question has been at the heart of the Balkan crisis for most of the twentieth century. This important book is the first to bring together international experts to analyse the recent history of Macedonia since the break-up of Yugoslavia,...

The book presents an informed and wide-ranging examination of issues surrounding the development and future prospects of civil society in Eastern Europe. The contributions, mostly by leading East European scholars, relate the key concept of civil society...

This collection of essays explores the relationship between the Chechens and their Russian conquerors, tracing the growth of mistrust and hostility, the rise of Chechen national feeling, and the culmination of this process in the war of 1994-1996. Each...

This book is a comprehensive account of trends in Russian public opinion over the period 1988-94. Analysing data from Russian polling organizations, it covers the development of a professional polling industry and looks at changing popular moods; the...

Belarus: From Soviet Rule to Nuclear Catastrophe examines the principal effects of Soviet rule on Belarus as the prelude to a detailed analysis of the medical and social consequences of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. It places these problems into the...

These studies cover a range of topics - market reforms, social justice, ecology, nationalism, new political parties and more - that are at the centre of the revolutionary changes under way in the former Soviet bloc. The breadth of this book's subject...