Realist assumptions of security studies increasingly have been challenged by an approach that places the human being, rather than the state, at the center of security concerns. This text is an indispensable statement of the ideas of this critical security project, written by some of its leading exponents.   The book is structured around three concepts—security, community, and    More >

Russia today is in many ways different from the country portrayed a decade ago in the first edition of Understanding Contemporary Russia. With an upsurge of both national pride—despite a struggling economy—and civil society activism, with a palpable tension between the support for democratic values and the intense desire for political stability, with an increased role in world politics    More >

Focusing on cases of international intervention in Kosovo, Serbia, and Macedonia, the authors of Transacting Transition explore how the mission and vision of "democracy promotion" is enacted on the ground—where principles of transparency, gender equality, and interethnic cooperation run up against the realities of political agendas, self-interest, and memories of conflict.    More >

Does it make sense for the United States to cooperate with Russia to resolve international security issues? Is it possible for the two countries to work together to reduce the dangers associated with nuclear weapons? Where does Vladimir Putin fit into the calculus? Engaging the debate on these contentious issues, Stephen Cimbala provides context for and policy-relevant analysis of current    More >

How do the former Soviet republics that now constitute the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) interact with each other and with other regional and world powers? What are the conceptual foundations, mechanisms, and main directions of each member state's foreign policy? What role do economic and political factors play? Answering these questions and more in this systematic, comprehensive    More >

Among the contentious issues that come into play in relations between Russia and the other post-Soviet states, security concerns are arguably at the top of the list. Ruth Deyermond explores the linkage between post-Soviet security politics and the development of state sovereignty in the region, focusing on Russia's interactions with Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus. Deyermond ranges from    More >

What is hybrid warfare?  And what role does information play in today's conflicts? In the context of the technological/information revolution of the last two decades—which has greatly amplified the danger posed by nonmilitary means of political struggle—Hybrid Conflicts and Information Warfare addresses these questions from the perspectives of both Western and Russian    More >

Political parties typically are assumed to be essential for contemporary democratic government and governance. Why, then, has the regime change in Russia failed to produce viable political parties? Grigorii Golosov addresses this question, exploring issues central to an understanding of Russian political development. Golosov combines statistical and qualitative analysis, including case studies,    More >

Aleksandr Golts traces the evolution of the Russian military, from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the incursions in eastern Ukraine in 2014–2017. Golts also sheds light on the reemergence of militarism in the Putin era, exploring its origins and making sense of the acceptance of the phenomenon by so much of Russian society.    More >

In this remarkable story of postcommunist politics gone wrong, John Gould explores privatization’s role in the scramble for wealth and power in postcommunist Europe. Gould engages the core debates on privatization. Does democratic development facilitate effective capitalist reform, or vice versa? How do political legacies shape privatization choices? Is simultaneous transition feasible?    More >

The sudden arrival of massive energy wealth during Putin's long reign has turned Russia's focus to resources, with some good and some very bad results. Considering why the good—a windfall of money to pay debts and put the country's finances in order—has been so overshadowed by the bad—resource dependence, reliance on rents, and unbridled corruption—Stefan    More >

Black Sea Battleground identifies and analyzes the key elements of a comprehensive US strategy for dealing with the cauldron of geopolitical and military competition in the Black Sea region.    More >

The widely misunderstood country of Belarus, squeezed both literally and geopolitically between Russia and the West, was typically overlooked by post–Cold War military planners—until Russia's first invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Now, with Russia's latest offensive in Ukraine, Belarus's geostrategic importance to NATO and the surrounding region is more in the spotlight than    More >

How does Russia fight wars? How are its experiences with modern conflicts shaping the evolution of its military strategy, capabilities, and doctrine? Addressing these questions, the contributors to Russia's Military Strategy and Doctrine consider strategic-level issues ranging from hybrid warfare, to the role of nuclear weapons, to cyber and electromagnetic warfare, to Moscow's posture in    More >

Attempts to transform the Russian Federation into a nation state, a civic state, or a stable imperial state have failed, argues Janusz Bugajski. Paradoxically, though Vladimir Putin assumed power to prevent Russia's disintegration, he may be remembered best for precipitating the country's demise. Bugajski considers the factors contributing to a possible Russian state collapse, among    More >

A full reckoning of Nikita Khrushchev's accomplishments and failures cannot be complete without looking beyond his foreign policy initiatives to assess his efforts to introduce domestic policy reforms in the Soviet Union. Sergei Khrushchev tells the full story of those efforts during the years immediately before his father's ouster—and of the intrigues and struggles for power that    More >

Why has political corruption emerged as a major obstacle to successful democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe? Exploring the origins, scope, and impact of political corruption in the region's post communist states, Tatiana Kostadinova identifies the factors that favor illicit behavior and considers how the various forms of malfeasance are threatening democracy. Rich cross-national data    More >

The strategically pivotal Russian Far East—a vast expanse stretching from Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean—is notable not only for its rich natural resources, but also for the economic challenges, internal dissent, and risks of foreign encroachment that it faces. Rensselaer Lee and Artyom Lukin explore the history, economics, and politics of the RFE in the context of its geopolitical    More >

How did Macedonia attain its status as the only Yugoslav republic to achieve a nonviolent transition to independence in the early 1990s? And why did the initial peace fail to endure? Sasho Ripiloski traces Macedonia's peaceful extrication from the Yugoslav morass and then examines the new country's subsequent state-building efforts and offers an explanation for its later collapse into    More >

Why do democratic leaders sometimes choose not to establish institutions that would promote the consolidation of democracy? And what are the consequences of those choices? Focusing on the cases of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, John Scherpereel explores the interplay of historical institutional legacies, short-term elite interests, and international pressures (i.e., EU conditionality) in the    More >

Russia's Muslims, numbering some 15 million, constitute far from a homogeneous sociopolitical group. So ... What does it mean to be a Muslim in Russia today?  How is the image of Islam constructed, and how do the country's Muslims—and non-Muslims—perceive and react to it? These are the questions that gave rise to this book. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the    More >

Do Russia and the European Union have any substantial influence over the political trajectories of post-Soviet states? Shedding new light on the interplay between domestic and external drivers of regime change, Jakob Tolstrup analyzes the impact of Russia and the EU on the democratization and autocratization processes in Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine.    More >

How do autocratic governments exploit communication technology in their efforts to maintain power? Can prodemocracy activists successfully use that same technology to support the overthrow of autocratic rulers? Rachel Vanderhill addresses these two questions, exploring in detail how social media are both aiding and undermining autocratic regimes in the Middle East, North Africa, and the former    More >

The connection between Soviet authoritarianism and human rights violations once seemed unassailable, as did the belief that a transition away from communist rule would lead to better protection of human rights. Challenging these assumptions, Jonathan Weiler argues that the tumultuous processes associated with political and economic reform have, in important instances, eroded human rights in    More >

What constitutes Europe today? Is there an identifiable European culture that transcends state boundaries? How do the various national political, economic, and social structures and institutions work? To what extent does the European Union influence policy in the region for members and nonmembers alike? Stephen Wright's comprehensive discussion of contemporary European politics addresses these    More >

In March 2012, at a meeting convened by the recently reelected Russian president Vladimir Putin, Minister of Defense Serdyukov informed Mr. Putin that a plan was being prepared for "the development of weapons based on new physical principles: radiation, geophysical wave, genetic, psychophysical, etc." Subsequently, in response to concerns expressed both in Russia and abroad, the Russian    More >