This volume seeks to fill the vacuum created by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress's decision to cease publishing comprehensive assessments of Russia's performance and potential. It provides readers with authoritative descriptions of Russia's economy, military prowess and international ambitions. The volume does not settle controversies, but does provide readers with an objective basis for assessing Russia's prospects without the distortions caused by fake news and disinformation wars.

The volume provides a retrospective analysis of Putin’s eight years as president between 2000 and 2008. An international group of leading specialists examine Putin’s leadership in an informed and balanced manner. The authors are drawn from Russia itself, as well as from Europe, America and Australasia. Coverage includes general analysis of the Putin presidency, the ideology underlying the thinking of the regime, issues of institutional development including coverage of parties, parliament and elections, developments in the federal system, corruption and changes in the configuration of the elite. The impact of energy on changes in political economy provides the background to an assessment of Russia’s re-emergence as a great power in international affairs, accompanied by analysis of the difficulties in Russia’s relations with its former Soviet neighbours and the European Union. The authors examine the interaction between power and policy, and draw some conclusions about the dynamics of Putin’s system of government and thus of the fate of Russia. This book was published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.

The Putin era saw a striking 'securitization' of politics, something that he has bequeathed to his chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev. The omens from the early days of the Medvedev presidency have been mixed, marked both by less confrontational rhetoric towards the West and by war with Georgia and continued re-armament. Has the Medvedev generation learned the lessons not just from the Soviet era but also from the Yeltsin and Putin presidencies, or will security remain the foundation of Russian foreign and domestic policy? Fully up-to-date to reflect the evolving Medvedev presidency, the 2008 Georgian war and the impact of the economic downturn, this volume is a much needed objective and balanced examination of the ways in which security has played and continues to play a central role in contemporary Russian politics. The combination of original scholarship with extensive empirical research makes this volume an invaluable resource for all students and researchers of Russian politics and security affairs.

In one way or another, the papers included in this monograph, from the Strategic Studies Institute's annual conference on Russia in May 2012, all point to the internal pathologies that render Russian security a precarious affair at the best of times. As the editor suggests, the very fact of this precariousness makes Russia an inherently unpredictable and even potentially dangerous actor, not necessarily because it will actively attack its neighbors, though we certainly cannot exclude that possibility, but rather because Russia may come apart trying to play the role of a great power in Eurasia or elsewhere. As we all know, that outcome happened in 1917 and in 1989-91, with profound implications for international security and U.S. interests.

Although the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev is often seen as a continuation of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, with the same policies applied in the same way, this book disagrees, arguing that Medvedev’s foreign policy was significantly different from Putin’s. The book considers especially the relationship between Russia and the Euro-Atlantic security configuration, including both NATO and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a relationship of great importance to Russia, given constant attention. It discusses a wide variety of issues, including "frozen conflicts", security co-operation and nuclear weapons reductions, highlights the different tone and approach under Medvedev, exemplified especially by his draft European Security Treaty, and shows how after Putin’s return to the presidency there has been a shift in foreign policy, with much great emphasis on influencing Russia’s immediate neighbours and on Eurasian union, and less emphasis on rapprochement and co-operation.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union expectations were high that a 'new world order' was emerging in which Russia and the other former Soviet republics would join the Western community of nations. That has not occurred. This volume explains the reasons for this failure and assesses likely future developments in that relationship