Russia First: Breaking with the West

by Peter Truscott

Overview

For 200 years Russia has had a love-hate relationship with the West. Anxious on the one hand to emulate Western institutions, ideas and lifestyles, while on the other, strongly nationalistic and suspicious of Western political and cultural encroachment. All signs show, argues the author, that Russia is leading back towards more comfortable and familiar territory away from the West. With most shades of Russian political opinion now firmly set on a "Russia First" policy following the West's failure to accommodate Russia's post-Communist economic and diplomatic needs, coupled with the pain associated with Western economic models, he concludes that Russia is developing its own "Tsarist" solutions with profound effects on domestic and foreign policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781860641992
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/31/1997
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.48(w) x 9.46(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Lord Truscott of St James's was appointed as a Member of the House of Lords in 2004. From 2006 to 2007, he was the UK's Energy Minister and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy at the Department of Trade and Industry. He represented Hertfordshire in the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999, and was Foreign Affairs and Defence Spokesman and Vice-President of the Security Committee. An expert on Russia, he has written a biography of Vladimir Putin and the Kursk submarine disaster amongst other works and many articles. He was Visiting Research Fellow with the Institute for Public Policy Research, and has written reports on European defence; political risk management and European energy security. He has a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University, and is a former Associate Fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for defence and security studies. He is a regular media commentator, especially on Russia.

Table of Contents

Introduction - schools of thought; "Russia first" and a return to history; Russia, relations with the West and the near abroad; Russia's economy, the military-industrial complex and the mafia; the Duma elections and the triumph of "Russia first"; "Russia first" in the 1996 presidential election campaign.

Editorial Reviews

Truscott, a scholar and member of the European Parliament, argues that the West's failure to accommodate Russia's post-Communist economic and diplomatic needs, coupled with the pain associated with Western economic models, has led Russia to develop its own Tsarist solutions. His study of developments shows how the rejection of western values has resulted in "Russia First,' a popular new school of thought which seeks to create a uniquely Russian variant of democratic and economic models. Distributed in the US by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Russia First was illuminating and required reading for anyone trading with The Russian Federation. It is difficult for us to grasp the Russian mindset and their ambivalence towards both East and West. Beautifully researched.” —Dr Paul Dyer, Hon. History Fellow of Kent University, UK, Member of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, financial markets entrepreneur and philanthropist

From the Publisher