In Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know, Timothy J. Colton offers a concise yet comprehensive introduction to Russia’s current political climate. The book is refreshingly easy to read, writes April Curtis, and is rich in detailed information that will make it an excellent choice for those wanting to better understand the historical roots of Russia’s present

Colton, Timothy J.

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13/07/2017 Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J. Colton | LSE Review of Bookshttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/04/book-review-russia-what-everyone-needs-to-know-by-timothy-j-colton/ 1/4Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J.ColtonIn Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know, Timothy J. Colton offers a concise yetcomprehensive introduction to Russia’s current political climate. The book is refreshingly easy toread, writes April Curtis, and is rich in detailed information that will make it an excellent choice forthose wanting to better understand the historical roots of Russia’s present. Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know. Timothy J. Colton. Oxford University Press. 2016.Find this book: In the contemporary political climate, Russia’sintentions are increasingly opaque. RussianPresident Vladimir Putin looks to Russia’s pastfor inspiration for its future, and therefore anunderstanding of Russia’s history is essential todeciphering the Kremlin’s current aims. TimothyJ. Colton’s new book, Russia: What EveryoneNeeds to Know, lives up to its ambitious subtitleand offers one of the most comprehensive shortintroductions to Russian history and today’spolitical situation available.While many authors have tried to summariseRussia’s history, what is unique about Colton’soverview is that it is anything but a basicabridgement. Instead, the book is targeted at aneducated reader, enabling Colton to dive intoimportant facts about Russia that are oftendeemed too technical or complex to be included.For example, Colton provides an in-depthanalysis of the structure of the Russiangovernment in the 1990s, which althoughcomplicated, illustrates how both Boris Yeltsinand Putin changed the governmental structure toachieve political gains. At times, the book canread like an scholarly text, but this is not due to itlacking an engaging writing style. Rather, thebook’s academic flavour is a result of the richand detailed information Colton provides.Colton’s work is also refreshingly easy to read. The book is organised into chapters preceded bybroader questions, such as ‘why was the Soviet collapse relatively peaceful?’ and ‘what are therepercussions of the Ukraine crisis?’ This structure allows the book to be read in its entirety, butalso enables readers to engage with specific topics of interest. The question-and-answer formattherefore gives the book a more focused approach that draws attention to the importance of acertain event or concept. This is a marked advantage over works that rather seek to provide anoverarching explanation of Russia’s history. In addition, this structure makes it easier to followColton’s arguments on topics with which the reader may not be familiar.13/07/2017 Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J. Colton | LSE Review of Bookshttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/04/book-review-russia-what-everyone-needs-to-know-by-timothy-j-colton/ 2/4Image Credit: Moscow (Pavel Kazachkov CC BY 2.0)One interesting aspect of the book is the attention paid to the relationship, both political andpersonal, between Yeltsin and Putin. Russia was a democracy for the first time in its history underYeltsin, thus it is important to examine this period in-depth to understand the Russian public’s(often cynical) view of how democracy works. As the author of a previous book on Yeltsin, Coltonsuccinctly links the governing style and reforms of Yeltsin to Putin. He explains how Putin gainedhis popularity by being both Yeltsin’s chosen successor and by promising to be nothing like hisbrash, and frequently drunken, predecessor. Colton argues that:consolidation of power was facilitated by the constitutional setup bequeathed byYeltsin. The superpresidency gave Putin a bully pulpit for setting the nationalagenda and let him take initiatives proactively (140).Yeltsin did much of the groundwork, creating a precedent for a strong presidency and helping tocondition the Russian people to a personal and individual style of governance that Putin laterexploited. Putin therefore developed Yeltsin’s strong presidency, which helped him create apolitical empire, and then protected this by appointing people loyal to him to key positions.Colton’s analysis of Russia is refreshing because he is capable of viewing the country beyond aWestern lens. When measured against the same values and principles as the West, Russiaseems to be a failing democracy. Human rights, especially regarding minorities, freedom ofspeech, rule of law, LGBT communities and media freedom, have all declined or disappearedunder Putin. However, as Colton argues, ‘it is not that Russian governments have missed themark in their attempts to produce disinterested rule of law, it is that they have not in any consistentway tried to produce it’ (214). As seen by Putin’s consistently high approval ratings, the majority ofRussians, despite the valuable work of Russian dissidents and human rights activists, do not viewtheir ruling government as unsuccessful in achieving its aims. Rather, it is the West’s bias toassume that Russia would want to become more like Western countries and embrace similarvalues. One reason Colton’s book is able to explain Russia so clearly is that it therefore drawsattention to the Russian people’s own yardstick, which dispels much of the mystifying aspects ofthe Kremlin’s outlook on the nation.The only significant issue with Colton’s argument is his treatment of NATO. When discussingRussia’s place in the post-Cold War world, Colton argues that NATO’s ‘expansion’ to the East wasa breach of trust, which hindered cooperation between the West and Russia. There is no doubtthat Russia’s often hysterical attitude towards NATO enlargement hindered cooperation, but13/07/2017 Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J. Colton | LSE Review of Bookshttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/04/book-review-russia-what-everyone-needs-to-know-by-timothy-j-colton/ 3/4July 4th, 2017 | April Curtis, Contributions from LSE Alumni, Europe and Neighbourhoods, History bookreviews, International Relations book reviews, Oxford University Press, Politics book reviews | 1CommentColton seems to take Russia’s side unfiltered. He ignores the agency of smaller, yet equallysovereign, countries, whose memories of Soviet occupation and difficulties in removing Russiantroops from their territory were very real throughout the early 1990s (it is worth noting that the finalRussian withdrawal from the Baltics was not complete until 1994).There is also no reference to why Russia’s neighbours would want to ensure their territorialintegrity in concert with the historic hegemon in the region – especially in light of the politically andeconomically unpredictable post-Soviet Russia of the 1990s (see also Russian military action inChechnya).  Colton argues that the West should have consulted Russia about NATO expansion,as though the NATO-Russian discussions on enlargement had not started in 1995 at NATO’srequest and as though Russia should have veto power in the security alignment of independentand sovereign states. It is important to remember that the world is no longer divided into spheresof influence, where old men decide the fates of millions of people over cocktails. Another factualissue regarding Colton’s treatment of NATO is his argument that NATO ‘invited’ the CzechRepublic, Hungary and Poland to become members, which ignores the Visegrad Group’sincessant lobbying to join from 1991 onward. In addition, NATO does not invite membershipapplications; instead, it only accepts or rejects them (123).That being said, Colton’s book is an excellent choice for readers who want to know why Russia isthe way it is, but are also interested in facts and details rather than generalisations. It is unique tofind such a well-researched and informative work that is also accessible to non-experts.Contemporary political events have built up a myth of Russia as a mysterious entity, whereas, asColton shows, Russia’s recent actions have a historical base. Colton successfully clears the mistbetween Russia’s past, present and future. Despite being published in the midst of the ongoingwar in Ukraine, Colton’s book will remain relevant far into the future.April Curtis received an MSc in History of International Relations from the LSE. She is currentlyworking at NATO Headquarters focusing on the Alliance’s relations with Russia and Ukraine. Aprilis writing in a personal capacity and the review does not represent the views of NATO as anorganisation. Read more by April Curtis.Note: This review gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Booksblog, or of the London School of Economics.    13/07/2017 Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J. Colton | LSE Review of Bookshttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/04/book-review-russia-what-everyone-needs-to-know-by-timothy-j-colton/ 4/4This work by LSE Review of Books is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales.

Book Review: Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy J. Colton

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