The Russia Anxiety: And How History Can Resolve It

by Mark B. Smith

Overview

A history of Russophobia and its living legacy in world affairs

With proof of election-meddling and the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin an ongoing conundrum, little wonder many Americans are experiencing what historian Mark B. Smith calls "the Russia Anxiety." This is no new phenomenon. Time and time again, the West has judged Russia on assumptions of its inherent cunning, malevolence, and brutality. Yet for much of its history, Russia functioned no differently-or at least no more dysfunctionally-than other absolutist, war-mongering European states. So what is it about this country that so often provokes such excessive responses? And why is this so dangerous?

Russian history can indeed be viewed as a catalog of brutal violence, in which a rotation of secret police-from Ivan the Terrible's Oprichina to Andropov's KGB and Putin's FSB-hold absolute sway. However, as Smith shows, there are nevertheless deeper political and cultural factors that could lead to democratic outcomes. Violence is not an innate element of Russian culture, and Russia is not unknowable. From foreign interference and cyber-attacks to mega-corruption and nuclear weapons, Smith uses Russia's sprawling history to throw light on contemporary concerns. Smith reveals how the past has created today's Russia and how this past offers hints about its future place in the world-one that reaches beyond crisis and confrontation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190886059
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	907,467
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Mark B. Smith is Lecturer of Twentieth-Century European History at the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of King's College and the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of Property of Communists and the blog Beyond the Kremlin.

Table of Contents

Maps ix

Preface xxiii

Part I Fear, Contempt and Disregard

1 The Bear Phantasmagoria

Did History Create the Russia Anxiety? 3

2 The Destiny Problem

Does History's 'Black Legend' Set Russia Up to Fail? 46

3 The Narrative Correction

What's Really Happened in the Last 6,000 Years? 76

Part II Normality, Friendship and Liberty?

4 The Dictatorship Deception

Does Russia's Past Offer Democratic Prospects? 107

5 The Terror Moment

Is Russia Built on a History of Violence? 156

6 The Europe Question

Has Russia Ever Been Part of the West? 189

7 The Empire Relationship

Is Expansionism in Russia's DNA? 229

8 The Invader Obsession

Does History Make Russians Seek Peace or War? 269

Part III The Fireglow of History

9 The Stalin Inheritance

Should Russians Remember the Past or Forget It? 319

10 The Putin Prospect

Is Russia's Future Contained in Her Past? 358

Acknowledgements 389

Notes 391

Index 429

Editorial Reviews

"Cambridge historian Mark B. Smith's book The Russia Anxiety and How History Can Resolve It is a valuable effort to assess the long history of the West's Russia-related worries and to explain how history can help us "to look at Russia more calmly, reasonably and accurately." It is likewise valuable in drawing attention not only to Russia's history but also to the West's; as Smith fairly states, "no country is honest about its past"... Mark Smith's provocative book won't solve that problem alone, but it does offer some valuable guidance in thinking about solutions." — Russia Matters

From the Publisher