Synopses & Reviews
Since Russian leader Vladimir Putin assumed power in August 1999, speculation about his character, motives, and plans for Russias future has been rampant in the West. A portrait of Putin has emerged in the West that is one-dimensional, ill informed, and diametrically opposed to the image of Putin the majority of Russians hold. Even after he stepped down as president in May 2008, retaining a significant measure of power as prime minister under his hand-picked successor, President Dmitri Medvedev, Putin remains poorly understood. In this interpretive biography of Putin, Allen C. Lynch seeks to reconcile the two conflicting images and find out just where the truth lies about the man and the statesman.
Westerners view Putin as an authoritarian holdover from the Soviet era who has clamped down on domestic opposition, freedom of the press, and other elements of a functioning democracy and who has relentlessly exerted Russian influence abroad, challenging the West and seeking to control its post-Soviet periphery. Most Russians, in contrast, are likely to be grateful to Putin for presiding over an economic recovery and reasserting Russian dignity on the world stage. A complete apprehension of the Russian leader, according to Lynch, requires an understanding of the way in which Putins personal experiences and critical events in recent Russian history have shaped his outlook. Lynch convincingly demonstrates how a complex interplay of Russias post-Soviet circumstances and the particular path of Putins career have informed his choices as leader.
Review
“Allen Lynch has produced the most insightful and balanced book yet published on Vladimir Putin and his impact on Russia. It is a key to understanding the first twelve years of 21st century Russia, whether or not Vladimir Putin decides to resume the presidency following the 2012 election.”—Jack F. Matlock, Jr., former U.S. ambassador to the USSR
Review
“Allen Lynch’s ‘interpretive biography’ of the leader who brought stability and economic growth to post-Soviet Russia, behind a facade of manipulative and sometimes ruthless ‘Potemkin democracy,’ ably explains the contrast in Western and Russian views of Putin’s achievements. This well-crafted study is ideally suited not only for courses in Russian or comparative politics, but also for studies of political leadership.”—Robert H. Donaldson, Trustees Professor of Political Science, University of Tulsa
Review
“Allen Lynch’s succinct biography of Vladimir Putin is richly analytical and topical, and it is an incisive and authoritative contribution to political leadership studies as well as interdisciplinary Russian studies. Lynch’s biography is nuanced and comprehensive, balanced and evaluative, and, thanks to clear thinking and writing, it is accessible to a wide readership.”—Erik P. Hoffmann, professor of political science, State University of New York, Albany
Review
“Allen Lynch has done it again. This time, he’s written a superb book that provides a definitive portrait of Vladimir Putin and coolly, carefully, and concisely evaluates his record as Russia’s leader. Both Putin’s many supporters and his many detractors—indeed, Putin himself—would do well to read Lynch’s excellent analysis.”—Alexander J. Motyl, professor of political science, Rutgers University, Newark
Review
“With the sure hand of a longtime observer of the Russian scene, Lynch lucidly analyses and explains the puzzle surrounding the personality and politics of Vladmir Putin, who is reviled abroad and admired at home.”—Andre Liebich, professor of international history and politics, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Review
"Allen Lynch’s political biography of Vladimir Putin is a must, not only for students but also for an informed readership interested in current Russian affairs. It provides a highly perceptive and exceptionally balanced assessment of Putin’s character, achievements, and failures. In this easy-to-read and captivating book, Lynch offers key concepts for a better understanding of the dilemmas and goals of Russian domestic politics and foreign policy."—Jacques Lévesque, professor emeritus of political science, University of Quebec at Montreal
Review
“Robert Nalbandov’s book brings fresh insight to both the longer-standing and the newer questions and conundrums the world faces from current Russian foreign policy.”—Rick Fawn, professor in the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland
Review
“Robert Nalbandov’s new book makes an important contribution to the field of international security. Those who read this book will gain important insights into Russian foreign policy under a leader who has often been both confusing and frustrating for the West. Robert Nalbandov’s analysis clarifies key issues important to foreign policy and international geopolitics.”—Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., professor of political science at Angelo State University and author of North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma
Review
“Not by Bread Alone presents a comprehensive and provocative account of Russian foreign policy that strives to explain its evolution under Vladimir Putin by looking inside the black box of ‘Russian political culture.’ It is a challenging job, and Nalbandov does it well.”—Viatcheslav Morozov, professor of EU–Russia Studies at the University of Tartu and author of Russia’s Postcolonial Identity: A Subaltern Empire in a Eurocentric World
Synopsis
An interpretive biography of one of Russia's most formidable leaders
Synopsis
Since its independence in 1991, Russia has struggled with the growing pains of defining its role in international politics. After Vladimir Putin ascended to power in 2000, the country undertook grandiose foreign policy projects in an attempt to delineate its place among the world’s superpowers. With this in mind, Robert Nalbandov examines the milestones of Russia’s international relations since the turn of the twenty-first century. He focuses on the specific goals, engagement practices, and tools used by Putin’s administration to promote Russia’s vital national and strategic interests in specific geographic locations. His findings illuminate Putin’s foreign policy objective of reinstituting Russian global strategic dominance. Furthermore, Nalbandov argues that identity-based politics have dominated Putin’s tenure and that Russia’s east/west split is reflected in Asian/European politics. Nalbandov’s analysis shows that unchecked domestic power, an almost exclusive application of hard power, and a determined ambition for unabridged global influence and a defined place as a world superpower are the keys to Putin’s Russia.
About the Author
Robert Nalbandov is an assistant professor of political science at Utah State University and the author of Democratization and Instability in Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus and Foreign Interventions in Ethnic Conflicts.