Pascal Marchand, Géopolitique de la Russie, Ellipses, 2008.
ISBN 978-2-7298-3258-2
Jeffrey Minkoff, Russian Foreign Policy, Council of Foreign Relations Book, Rouman & Littlefill Publishers, 2009
Trivial, one-sided and, as always, arrogant account of the Russian politics and economics. Most of his, as everyone’s, stories of Russia’s decay in the 90s are based on comparison with the Communist-era statistics, which had little relation to real state of things. For instance, paupers ostensibly did not exist under Communism, so 100% of the growth in their numbers is attributed to economic reform, etc. etc.
Yet, the author recognizes that Russia has undergone, in his words, “a Copernican transformation” and makes a sound conclusion that the stability in Eurasia is impossible without Russia’s inclusion. Thus, he advises EU and NATO to part with its current containment policies and suggests engaging Russia in European institutions.
For the review Minkoff's book please navigate to comment #1
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This book, while employing usual racist stereotypes, finally recognizes that Russia has legitimate foreign policy interests and goals and should not be pushed to the wall. The weakest part: Minkoff treats the "West" as a monolith having no conflicting foreign policy interests and uncritically describes the foreign policy goals of this mystical West as promotion of "democracy" and "liberalism."
Post a Comment