Thinking Theoretically About Soviet Nationalities

Politics & Social Sciences

Motyl, Alexander J.

Social Sciences

Columbia University Press

In this concise, provocative, and trenchant book, Alexander J. Motyl argues that social scientists must pay more rigorous attention to the formulation of concepts, as they provide the basis for clear thinking, good research, and intelligent formulation of theories. Before even contemplating the question of whether or not theories "fit the facts" and explain what they purport to explain, it behooves us to ask whether or not theories make sense conceptually.
Focusing his "conceptual explorations" on three phenomena -- revolutions, nations and nationalism, and empires -- Motyl challenges the sloppy thinking that so often surrounds these three interrelated concepts, and moves our understanding of them -- and their implications for both theory and practice -- toward greater precision.

Revolutions, Nations, Empires

Russia's Engagement with the West:: Transformation and Integration in the Twenty-First Century

The Putin and Bush presidencies, the 9/11 attack, and the war in Iraq have changed the dynamics of Russian-European-US relations and strained the Western alliance. Featuring contributions by leading experts in the field, this work is the first systematic effort to reassess the status of Russia's modernization efforts in this context. Part I examines political, economic, legal, and cultural developments in Russia for evidence of convergence with Western norms. In Part II, the contributors systematically analyze Russia's relations with the European Union, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the United States in light of new security concerns and changing economic and power relationships.

Business & Money

Ruble, Blair A.

Shevtsova, Lilia

Skills

Routledge

The collapse of the Soviet Union added a large new country-Ukraine-to the map of Europe. With its endowment of natural resources and skilled population of 52 million, Ukraine can play a major role in European and world affairs. How an independent Ukraine evolves internally and the foreign policies it adopts will have considerable impact on Europe, East and West, and the United States.Alexander J. Motyl, an authority on the post-Soviet nations, examines the painful choices confronting Ukraine. He considers Ukraine's troublesome inheritance from the Soviet Union and discusses ways Ukraine might overcome this legacy to build a modern, democratic, and market-oriented state. Motyl advances an evolutionary approach, one that places equal emphasis on economic reform, the creation of democracy and civil society, state-building, and ethnic peace. He also explores Kiev's relations with Moscow, and suggests what the West should-and should not-do to help Ukraine and the other former republics survive their post-imperial and post-totalitarian challenges.

Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine After Totalitarianism

History

Americas

Council on Foreign Relations

Crisis in Ukraine sets the intellectual stage for understanding the turmoil in eastern Europe, what is really at stake, and what will come next. The arguments presented span the ideological spectrum, and the authors include a range of leading experts from several disciplines and countries, including Yuliya Tymoshenko, Alexander Motyl, Orlando Figes, Kathryn Stoner, Daniel Treisman, Brian Taylor, Kathleen McNamara, and more. Released as policymakers in Washington and other capitals debate how to handle Ukraine, this book contains everything needed for readers to develop informed opinions of their own.

Crisis in Ukraine (FOREIGN AFFAIRS ANTHOLOGY SERIES)

FIGES, Orlando

Rose, Gideon

Treisman, Daniel

Krastev, Ivan

Karatnycky, Adrian

Tymoshenko, Yuliya

Chapman, Annabelle

Darden, Keith

Stoner, Kathryn

Politics & Government

Welcome to the Kremlin's phantasmagoric world, where a heady mixture of Orthodoxy, socialism, imperialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and Mother Russia worship defines and distorts reality. Vovochka is the fictional story of "Vovochka Putin" and his intimate friend-a KGB agent with the same nickname. The two Vovochkas recruit informers in Berlin's gay bars, spy on East German dissidents, survive the trauma of the Soviet Union's collapse, fight American, Ukrainian, Jewish, and Estonian "fascists," and plot to restore Russia's power and glory. As their mindset assumes increasingly bizarre forms, "Vovochka Putin" experiences bouts of self-doubt that culminate in a weeklong cure in North Korea. A savagely satirical novel, Vovochka is also a terrifyingly plausible account of a Russian president's evolution from a minor KGB agent in East Germany to the self-styled Savior and warmongering leader of a paranoid state.

Vovochka: The True Confessions of Vladimir Putin's Best Friend and Confidant

Literature & Fiction

Humor & Satire

Anaphora Literary Press

A Russian in Berlin

Literary

Independently published

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Books by Motyl, Alexander J.