Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction

Russia is rarely out of the news, particularly since it launched the largest war in Europe since World War II by invading Ukraine in 2022. Yet, Russian politics can be difficult to understand. It is powerfully shaped by large, impersonal forces such as geography and Russia's place in the international political and economic system. At the same time, Russia's formal political institutions—such as the Constitution and electoral procedures—are relatively weak and manipulable compared to those of stable, established democracies. Under these circumstances, powerful leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin represent a source of potential dynamism and change.

This Very Short Introduction provides a guide to understanding Russian politics that goes beyond the headlines, offering a vivid account of the key forces driving Russian politics. It places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development.

Major Themes Explored in the Book:

• The primacy of the state over society
• The role of the so-called "West," which has represented a source of inspiration, threat, and competition for generations of Russians
• The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which brought about dramatic change across multiple spheres—from the nature of the political and economic system to the country's borders and who counted as a citizen

To this day, Russia is still working its way through the consequences of these transformations.