Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way

Slobodchikoff seeks to analyze the role of Russia as a regional power in the former Soviet Union through a network analysis of the treaties signed between Russia and its neighbors. There are several dozen diagrams showing thematic clusters of treaties, 'nesting' within each other. . . .The author comes up with various indexes through which he processes the bilateral and multilateral treaties. . . .The data is intriguing. Summing Up: . . . . [For] researchers. * CHOICE *
[T]his book raises some important issues and provides analysis of subjects of great concern to observers of Russian foreign policy and students of international relations theory. * Slavic Review *
This work offers a depiction of Russia’s evolving role in the post-Soviet space grounded in Russian and Soviet history, as well as domestic Russian, regional, and geopolitical realities. Prof. Slobodchikoff wisely eschews the hyperbole that often surrounds treatments of Russian foreign policy under Vladimir Putin in favor of a more comprehensive look at the incentives and instruments of leverage on which Russia has depended to pursue hegemonic influence in its neighborhood.  Overall, the author's careful examination of Soviet and post-Soviet bilateral treaty agreements, as well as multilateral treaty-based institutions, is a welcome addition to the literature on security in the post-Soviet space. -- Matthew Rojanski, Director Kennan Institute, Wilson Center
In his prescient analysis of foreign policy in the post-Soviet space, Michael Slobodchikoff examines how Russia reemerged as a regional hegemon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This book carefully lays out how Russia employed a variety of bilateral and multilateral treaty mechanisms that enabled it to slowly reestablish its regional preeminence, when it could no longer rely on force alone. Building Hegemonic Order Russia’s Way pulls off a unique feat in that it employs sophisticated research methods but is yet easily accessible to a wide audience. Using tools of network analysis embedded in deep contextual knowledge, Slobodchikoff speaks to scholars of international organization and security studies as well as to policymakers seeking to untangle the puzzle of how Russia has reemerged as an important international player.  -- Jennifer Murtazashvili, University of Pittsburgh
This study offers a welcome antidote to numerous simple geopolitical studies of Russian international relations. Slobodchikoff argues that bilateral and multilateral treaties matter and can provide the basis for developing rules and networks in the post-Soviet regional order, even if Russia is still capable of exerting hegemonic power. This kind of systematic analysis provides a solid foundation for advanced students and researchers of this increasingly contentious and volatile part of the world. -- Roy Allison, Univerisity of Oxford
In this meticulously researched and thoughtful work, which he fits within the context of theories of global and regional order, Michael Slobodchikoff not only highlights the dangers of underestimating and neglecting Russia, but provides an extensive and nuanced assessment of Moscow’s continuing attempts to create a viable security architecture in the post-Soviet space. Importantly, he points out that even though Russia is powerful within this space it cannot merely force states to behave as Moscow wishes them to but needs to use bilateral and multilateral cooperation to create a security architecture where all states, including the weaker powers, gain necessary benefits, including stability and order. This most helpful analysis, that explains Russia’s needs and the rationale for certain policies, still leaves open the question though of what will happen following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Kremlin’s continued pressure on the rest of Ukraine. Will Russia overreach and fall victim to dangerous imperial delusions, or perhaps put more colloquially will it be a case where 'the appetite grows with eating'? -- Aurel Braun, Harvard University