Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest

by Angela Stent

Overview

In this revised version that includes an exclusive new chapter on the Russia-Ukraine war, renowned foreign policy expert Angela Stent examines how Putin created a paranoid and polarized world—and increased Russia's status on the global stage.

 

How did Russia manage to emerge resurgent on the world stage and play a weak hand so effectively? Is it because Putin is a brilliant strategist? Or has Russia stepped into a vacuum created by the West's distraction with its own domestic problems and US ambivalence about whether it still wants to act as a superpower? Putin's World examines the country's turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians' understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions — and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed.
 
This book looks at Russia's key relationships — its downward spiral with the United States, Europe, and NATO; its ties to China, Japan, the Middle East; and with its neighbors, particularly the fraught relationship with Ukraine. Putin's World will help Americans understand how and why the post-Cold War era has given way to a new, more dangerous world, one in which Russia poses a challenge to the United States in every corner of the globe — and one in which Russia has become a toxic and divisive subject in US politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538741627
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	02/21/2023
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	512,990
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Angela Stent is director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. From 2004 to 2006, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. She is the author of The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century, for which she won the American Academy of Diplomacy's Douglas Dillon prize for the best book on the practice of American diplomacy.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Weight of the Past 9

2 The Russian Idea 24

3 Ambivalent Europeans 44

4 Russia and Germany: The Fateful Relationship 80

5 The "Main Opponent": Russia and NATO 110

6 Russia and Its "Near Abroad": How Civilized a Divorce? 141

7 "The Past Is Always Changing": Russia and Ukraine 175

8 Russia and China: Duo of the Willing? 208

9 Wary Neighbors: Russia and Japan in the Shadow of World War Two 235

10 The New Power Broker: Russia and the Middle East 258

11 Three Failed Resets: Russia and America Before the Trump Era 293

12 The Rivals: Russia and America in the Age of Trump 311

13 What Kind of Engagement with Russia? 344

Epilogue 363

Acknowledgments 373

Notes 377

Bibliography 419

Photo Credits 425

Index 427

Editorial Reviews

"Informed by its author's distinguished career in government and academia, this account of Russian President Vladimir Putin's worldview provides an important window into one of the key geopolitical challenges of our time. Casual observers and seasoned experts will benefit from Dr. Stent's brilliant exploration of Putin's strategy and its disturbing implications for the West."—Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright

"Like the judo player he once was, Vladimir Putin has figured out ways to assert Russian power despite his nation's weakness. Understanding how he does it is crucial to America, and Angela Stent's deeply knowledgeable and readable book provides brilliant insights."—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo Da Vinci and Einstein

"PUTIN'S WORLD offers a timely 21st century update on George Kennan's Long Telegram. Russians understand their country through history, geography, empire-and stories of 'great men.' Angela Stent deftly explains how Putin's version of Russian exceptionalism has been redrawing maps of power in Eurasia and beyond. In an era of strongmen who are seeking a new concert of power, Stent offers the wise perspective that we should consider Russia as it is, not as we might wish it to be."—Robert B. Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, US Trade Representative, and US Deputy Secretary of State

"From one of the leading experts on Russian foreign policy, PUTIN'S WORLD is a highly engaging, comprehensive overview of Moscow's international relations. Angela Stent deftly explains Russia's complex role at a fraught moment in history, drawing deeply on the country's history, culture, and other key factors determining Russians' conceptions of themselves and the world."—Gregory Feifer, author of Russians: The People Behind the Power

"PUTIN'S WORLD is the definitive guide to understanding the tangled history of post-Cold War Russia and its place in the world. Angela Stent offers a thoughtful, sober, and elegantly-written perspective that could not be more timely."—US Ambassador William J. Burns

"[Stent] counsels strategic patience and preparedness — and suggests that it would be wise to expect the unexpected."—Foreign Affairs

"Stent expertly walks readers through Moscow's relations with every region in the world, avoiding the hysteria that warps discussion of the country. Aware that too many books about Russian foreign policy arrive instantly obsolete because they lack a foundation in history or political culture, Stent opens with those subjects...and the book culminates in a clear-eyed portrayal of the inescapably troubled U.S.-Russia relationship."—Washington Post

"An incisive exploration of 'how and why Russia has returned to the world stage'...[Stent] offers a deeply informed look at why Russia, directed by President Vladimir Putin, persists in behaving in what the West regards as an exceedingly maddening, paranoid, and often aggressive manner...A compelling historico-psychological work delineating how the West should respond to Russia going forward."—Kirkus (Starred Review)

From the Publisher

★ 2019-01-22

An incisive exploration of "how and why Russia has returned to the world stage"—and the prospects for the future.

Casting back into the country's history, Stent, former national intelligence officer and current director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, East European Studies at Georgetown (The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the 21st Century, 2014), offers a deeply informed look at why Russia, directed by President Vladimir Putin, persists in behaving in what the West regards as an exceedingly maddening, paranoid, and often aggressive manner. After "a decade of political chaos and an economic meltdown," Russia went from being a regional power, according to Barack Obama, to one whose reach "is now clearly global." Among the many elements that demonstrate how Russia has established a new geopolitical identity: its triumphal staging of the Winter Olympics in 2014 and, later, the 2018 World Cup; the annexation of Crimea; launching of war in southeastern Ukraine; and edging out the United States as the new power broker in the Middle East, specifically in backing Syria's president Bashar al-Assad in his civil war ("Russia's first military foray outside the former Soviet borders since the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan"). Looking at the country's past glories and grievances under a series of eccentric, occasionally dangerous czars in order to underscore its unique place in the world and sense of exceptionalism, Stent insightfully dissects its prickly relationship with both the U.S. and many European countries, who had hoped Russia post-Soviet Union would become "a responsible stake-holder in a post-Cold War, rules-based liberal international order [the West] had created." The author also considers Russia's "wary" relationships with neighbors China, Japan, and others. As she astutely notes, Russia has always defined itself in opposition to the West, and "isolating [it] and refusing to deal with it, however appealing that may appear to some, is not an option."

A compelling historico-psychological work delineating how the West should respond to Russia going forward.

Kirkus Reviews