This book presents an unprecedented dialogue with leading U.S., Russian, and Eurasian economic experts and policy-makers on the pivotal issues of economic reform, trade, and investment, and the prospects for an economic renaissance in the new states of the former Soviet Union. Contributors include Eduard Shevardnadze, Yegor Gaidar, Lee H. Hamilton, S. Frederick Starr, Anders Aslund, and German O. Gref.

The 2014 Ukrainian crisis has highlighted the pro-Russia stances of some European countries, such as Hungary and Greece, and of some European parties, mostly on the far-right of the political spectrum. They see themselves as victims of the EU “technocracy” and liberal moral values, and look for new allies to denounce the current “mainstream” and its austerity measures. These groups found new and unexpected allies in Russia. As seen from the Kremlin, those who denounce Brussels and its submission to U.S. interests are potential allies of a newly re-assertive Russia that sees itself as the torchbearer of conservative values. Predating the Kremlin’s networks, the European connections of Alexander Dugin, the fascist geopolitician and proponent of neo-Eurasianism, paved the way for a new pan-European illiberal ideology based on an updated reinterpretation of fascism. Although Dugin and the European far-right belong to the same ideological world and can be seen as two sides of the same coin, the alliance between Putin’s regime and the European far-right is more a marriage of convenience than one of true love. This unique book examines the European far-right’s connections with Russia and untangles this puzzle by tracing the ideological origins and individual paths that have materialized in this permanent dialogue between Russia and Europe.

This study offers a new interpretation of twentieth-century Russian Orthodox theology by engaging the work of Georges Florovsky (1893-1979), especially his program of a 'return to the Church Fathers'.

Moscow in Movement is the first exhaustive study of social movements, protest, and the state-society relationship in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Beginning in 2005 and running through the summer of 2013, the book traces the evolution of the relationship between citizens and their state through a series of in-depth case studies, explaining how Russians mobilized to defend human and civil rights, the environment, and individual and group interests: a process that culminated in the dramatic election protests of 2011–2012 and their aftermath. To understand where this surprising mobilization came from, and what it might mean for Russia's political future, the author looks beyond blanket arguments about the impact of low levels of trust, the weight of the Soviet legacy, or authoritarian repression, and finds an active and boisterous citizenry that nevertheless struggles to gain traction against a ruling elite that would prefer to ignore them. On a broader level, the core argument of this volume is that political elites, by structuring the political arena, exert a decisive influence on the patterns of collective behavior that make up civil society—and the author seeks to test this theory by applying it to observable facts in historical and comparative perspective. Moscow in Movement will be of interest to anyone looking for a bottom-up, citizens' eye view of recent Russian history, and especially to scholars and students of contemporary Russian politics and society, comparative politics, and sociology.

Why are bilateral relations, especially in the area of energy security, so different in the cases of U.S.-Russia, U.S.-Azerbaijan, and Russia-Germany energy deals? Why do some states find common ground despite differences, while others, with all the seemingly favourable conditions, are sinking into animosity? Energy Security and Cooperation in Eurasia explores varying outcomes of energy cooperation, defined as diplomatic relations, bilateral trade, and investment in oil and natural gas. The book looks at economic potential, geopolitical rivalry, and domestic interest groups in the cases of U.S.-Russia, U.S.-Azerbaijan, and Russia-Germany energy ties. It looks at major projects in each case (Sakhalin and Arctic oil and gas production, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Nord Stream pipelines) and activities of international oil companies. The book also provides a detailed analysis of the situation in Ukraine since 2014 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and their effect on European energy security. This book utilizes an innovative approach of exploring the dyads of states (bilateral relations) along the economic, geopolitical, and domestic lobbying dimensions. This book is a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students, academics and researchers in the areas of Security, Political Economy, Comparative Politics, post-Soviet studies, as well as for general public.

Commemorating Pushkin is a study of the fascination with Pushkin that has helped Russian culture define itself, as seen in poems, stories, essays, memoirs, films, museums, and commemorative celebrations.

Here, the author examines Russian thinking about the Orient before the Revolution of 1917. He argues that the Russian Empire's bi-continental geography and the complicated nature of its encounter with Asia have all resulted in a variegated understanding of the East among its people.