Russia Before the Full-Scale War

For Europe, the 24th of February 2022 marked a historic turning point. Until then, many decision-makers and commentators did not understand that developments in post-communist Russia can lead to the biggest war in Europe since 1945. These two collected volumes illustrate some of the factors preparing this tragic escalation. They assemble select papers published mainly in the Germany-based Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society and Forum für osteuropäische Ideen- und Zeitgeschichte (Forum for the Contemporary History and Ideas of Eastern Europe). This first volume reflects upon some critical characteristics of the late Soviet and post-Soviet elites, institutions, and society of Russia. The volume’s contributors are Håvard Bækken (Oslo), Olenka Dmytryk (Kyiv), Rolf Fredheim (Riga), Konstantin Kaminskij (Berlin), Leonid Luks (Eichstätt), Chris Monday (Seoul), Alexander J. Motyl (New Brunswick), Felix Riefer (Bonn), Natalia Samover (Moscow), Simon Schlegel (Kyiv), and Maria Snegovaya (Washington, DC).



Dr. Felix Riefer studied Politics at Cologne and Paris. He is an independent analyst in Bonn, the Book Reviews Editor of the Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, and the author of Russlands Außenpolitik unter Putin 2000–2018 (Springer / Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2020).



Dr. Julie Fedor studied History at Melbourne and Cambridge, UK. She is Associate Professor of Modern European History at the University of Melbourne, author of Russia and the Cult of State Security (Routledge 2011), and the General Editor of the Journal of Soviet Post-Soviet Politics and Society.



Dr. Leonid Luks studied History at Jerusalem and Munich. He is Professor Emeritus of Central and East European History at The Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, author of many books, and the General Editor of the Forum für osteuropäische Ideen- und Zeitgeschichte and Forum noveishei vostochnoevropeiskoi istorii i kul’tury.



Dr. Andreas Umland studied Politics at Berlin, Oxford, Stanford, and Cambridge, UK. He is an Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies in the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and Associate Professor of Political Science at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.



For Europe, the 24th of February 2022 marked a historic turning point. Until then, many decision-makers and commentators did not understand that developments in post-communist Russia can lead to the biggest war in Europe since 1945.