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Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order Kindle Edition

by Kathryn E. Stoner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
An assessment of Russia that suggests that we should look beyond traditional means of power to understand its strength and capacity to disrupt international politics.

Too often, we are told that Russia plays a weak hand well. But, perhaps the nation's cards are better than we know. Russia ranks significantly behind the US and China by traditional measures of power: GDP, population size and health, and military might. Yet 25 years removed from its mid-1990s nadir following the collapse of the USSR, Russia has become a supremely disruptive force in world politics. Kathryn E. Stoner assesses the resurrection of Russia and argues that we should look beyond traditional means of power to assess its strength in global affairs. Taking into account how Russian domestic politics under Vladimir Putin influence its foreign policy, Stoner explains how Russia has battled its way back to international prominence.

From Russia's seizure of the Crimea from Ukraine to its military support for the Assad regime in Syria, the country has reasserted itself as a major global power. Stoner examines these developments and more in tackling the big questions about Russia's turnaround and global future. Stoner marshals data on Russia's political, economic, and social development and uncovers key insights from its domestic politics. Russian people are wealthier than the Chinese, debt is low, and fiscal policy is good despite sanctions and the volatile global economy. Vladimir Putin's autocratic regime faces virtually no organized domestic opposition. Yet, mindful of maintaining control at home, Russia under Putin also uses its varied power capacities to extend its influence abroad. While we often underestimate Russia's global influence, the consequences are evident in the disruption of politics in the US, Syria, and Venezuela, to name a few. Russia Resurrected is an eye-opening reassessment of the country, identifying the actual sources of its power in international politics and why it has been able to redefine the post-Cold War global order.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0190860738
  2. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    September 1, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    8.4 MB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"... offer[s] a nuanced picture of an often messy policymaking process and its numerous unintended consequences." -- Marcin Kaczmarski, University of Glasgow, Asia Policy

"Stoner's book is a fine primer for students new to Russia and looking for a broad understanding of the many changes that took place between 1990 and 2020." -- Michael Coffey, College of Southern Maryland, Europe-Asia Studies

"Stoner's greatest contribution is empirically applying a multidimensional concept of power to measure Russia's state strength." -- Katie L. Stewart, Knox College, The Russian Review

"The key strength of the book lies in its compelling argument that reveals how Russia has rebuilt various means of its power to expand its influence and at the same time how the country's domestic politics constrain its future ambitions in global politics." -- Nivedita Kapoor, International Affairs

"In this sweeping synthesis and reassessment of Russia, Stoner focuses on Russia's relative power and foreign policy capability ... Stoner's study provides a valuable corrective to narratives that exaggerate Russian weakness and Putin's genius, as she instead focuses on domestic regime survival as the core motive for Russia's distinct exercise of power." -- S. G. Jug, CHOICE

"...such a great overview of the topic of Russia both within international politics, but also to really give a better grasp of the dynamics of Russian politics itself domestically as well, so that we can kind of understand it within the international context. And I was very impressed because I think it gives some very nuanced and insightful comments on Russia itself." -- Justin Kempf, Democracy Paradox

"In Russia Resurrected Kathryn Stoner offers a comprehensive and through overview of Russian foreign policy, a substantial contribution to the importantdebate over Russia's foreign policy goals." -- Peter Rutland, Slavonic and East European Review

"Kathryn Stoner... wants to show how Russia really is a threat to the West. She presents more than 250 pages of closely packed text, brimming with information, tables, graphs and figures..." -- Professor Bill Bowring, SCRSS Newsletter

"A welcome contribution to scholarship and policy." -- Celeste A. Wallander, Journal of Democracy

"There is a nuance, depth, and complexity in Dr. Stoner's book that is to be relished. It challenges assumptions, questions commonly held perspectives, and undermines the popular misconceptions of Russia. It is something that is precisely needed in this environment, especially if Washington is to craft a smart policy towards Moscow, and as a new administration begins to craft its policy towards Russia." -- Joshua Huminski, Diplomatic Courier

"According to conventional wisdom, Russia is a weak and declining power. Kathryn Stoner's fantastic new book, Russia Resurrected, challenges that outdated notion along many dimensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not playing a weak hand smartly when confronting the West, but deploying new and advanced military, cyber, diplomatic, and propaganda capabilities to pursue his dangerous, destabilizing, global agenda. Marshalling fresh empirical data and rethinking new methods for assessing power, Russia Resurrected should be a wakeup call for Western leaders, appear on every syllabus for courses on Russia, and be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Russia in the world today." -- Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

"Stoner provides a nuanced and accessible portrait of what it means for Russia to be a 'great power' in the twenty-first century. This comprehensive analysis of Russia's power tools demonstrates that Putin prioritizes gaining influence over foreign societies, not just over other states. Challenging the notion that Russian aggression serves state interests or was historically inevitable, Stoner shows that Putin's autocratic regime gains domestic legitimacy from international influence. She convincingly concludes that Russia could have chosen another path that would have served its genuine state interests better, continuing the liberal international integration of the immediate post-Soviet era." -- Kimberly Marten, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University

"Russia Resurrected is an authoritative and compelling examination of Russia's global influence. Stoner demonstrates the multifaceted nature of Russian power and explains how its use is closely connected to the character of its domestic political system. Essential reading for understanding Russian foreign policy under Vladimir Putin." -- Brian D. Taylor, Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

"With Russian influence now globalized in ways not seen since the Cold War, Stoner's Russia Resurrected supplies novel insights in her trademark clear and compelling prose. By broadening how we think about 'power,' her uniquely comprehensive analysis shows Russia has plenty of it and demonstrates how Vladimir Putin has put his country in position to help reshape the international order in surprising ways. The drivers, she finds, lie in domestic politics and private interests as much as in geopolitical imperatives and rivalries." -- Henry Hale, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

About the Author

Kathryn E. Stoner is the Deputy Director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, all at Stanford University. She is the author or co-editor of five books, including Transitions to Democracy: A Comparative Perspective, written and edited with Ambassador Michael A. McFaul, and Resisting the State: Reform and Retrenchment in Post-Soviet Russia.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08Q8NYHP4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8.4 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0190860738
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Customers find the book readable and well-researched, with one review noting how the author incorporates factual knowledge with theoretical perspectives.

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4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, with one describing it as essential reading for all.

"...anybody wanting to expand his/her knowledge of Russia this is worth the time to read...." Read more

"...This is easily the best book I've read with regard to providing a backdrop to Putin's war against Ukraine 🇺🇦..." Read more

"...This book is well-researched, well-referenced, and fascinating to read, especially now!" Read more

"...To sum up, it is a book worth reading to get on board with the broader context on the evolution of Russia’s power capabilities and subordination of..." Read more

3 customers mention "Research quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers praise the research quality of the book, noting its well-referenced content and analytical approach, with one customer highlighting how the author combines factual knowledge with theoretical perspectives.

"...The author incorporates factual knowledge with theoretical perspectives to offer an explanation of Russia's drive to reestablish its position in the..." Read more

"...Superbly researched, analytical and rigorous, it's rich in relevant historical and, more broadly, empirical data...." Read more

"...This book is well-researched, well-referenced, and fascinating to read, especially now!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Val D
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
    Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    For anybody wanting to expand his/her knowledge of Russia this is worth the time to read. The author incorporates factual knowledge with theoretical perspectives to offer an explanation of Russia's drive to reestablish its position in the twenty - first century.
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  • TK
    4.0 out of 5 stars Is Russia resurrected as a global power?
    Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    According to the author, Russian power resources are not the best in the world in terms of the dimensions of geographic domain, policy scope and material means. However, they can have ample effect in shaping a new global order because of the desire and ability of Russian leaders, Vladimir Putin in particular, to use what they have.

    Under Putin’s rule, Russia has transitioned from a weak democracy to a hardening autocracy which is highly centralized and increasingly personalistic. In Putin’s patronal system of governance and political economy, power is distributed through patron-client networks. Under Putin, Russian elites divide state resources among themselves and control who gets what. Fundamentally, the system of governance under Putin’s long rule in Russia is cronyistic and corrupt.

    As Russia’s autocracy became more entrenched, the system not only became more repressive, but also more willing to use its power abroad. Thus, Russian foreign policy ‘is just as much a reaction to domestic political exigencies and an attempt to meet the need to maintain popular support for an increasingly unpopular autocratic regime.’ (P.20) Intriguingly, power projection abroad has become necessary to maintain regime support at home as much as to defend or assert Russian national interests.

    In this way, “Even with an uneven hand, however, the ways in which Russian power has been employed, and the willingness of the political regime under Vladimir Putin to be disruptive and assertive in international politics, has contributed to Russia’s resurrection as a global power.’ (P.236)
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  • Raphael de Kadt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading to help understand the etiology of the current crisis
    Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Limited-time deal: Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order

    This is easily the best book I've read with regard to providing a backdrop to Putin's war against Ukraine 🇺🇦

    Superbly researched, analytical and rigorous, it's rich in relevant historical and, more broadly, empirical data. Essential reading for all who wish properly to understand the current crisis.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Elonka Dunin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Timely and thorough
    Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Finally a solid source from someone with clue. I learned more about Putin's goals from reading the introduction to this book than from hours of listening to other so-called experts. This book is well-researched, well-referenced, and fascinating to read, especially now!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • CarefulBuyer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2021
    This is an incredibly insightful and timely book. Its a must read and very accessible even for the non-expert. Dr. Stoner persuasively argues that we should not be underestimating Russia!
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Giedrius Cesnakas
    3.0 out of 5 stars The book is a solid reading which does not deliver to its full potential.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Just recently finished reading the book “Russia Resurrected: Its Power in a New Global Order” (published in September 2020) by Kathryn E. Stoner, a Stanford University professor. The book is a solid reading which does not deliver to its full potential. Kathryn E. Stoner identifies what power resources Russia has and how they allow Putin to achieve domestic policy aims in international politics.
    The book is a product of what I would call the Stanford University’s school of Russia studies, led by Professor and former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. The school focuses on Russian president Vladimir Putin and his interests as the main drivers behind Russian foreign and security policy. The school dismisses the realist balance of power approach when explaining Russian foreign and security policy. It rightly criticizes the approach of Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer, and others who argue that Russian foreign and security policies are resulted by provocations of the West. Book by Kathryn E. Stoner and the latest article by Michael McFaul “Putin, Putinism, and the Domestic Determinants of Russian Foreign Policy,” published in International Security, follows a similar path and contradicts mentioned realist approach.
    The author argues that a purely quantitative approach to power, as understood in neorealism, is outdated. There is no question on the necessity to agree with her. She rightly suggests that power capabilities result from the interaction of three dimensions: means, scope, and domain, providing a more in-depth understanding of the application of particular instruments of power to achieve foreign policy goals. Though Kathryn E. Stoner initially criticized other authors for focusing on the quantitative approach to power at the beginning of the book, she is later quite explicit on quantitative analysis of Russia’s power capabilities. So she follows a path she criticized.
    From my perspective, the author overestimates Russia’s military capabilities, especially when writing about new weapon systems. Some of those systems are not even adequately tested or are in the initial phases of development. The overestimation of the capabilities of the tank Armata T-14 is a good example. Though the tank was widely advertised, Russia still focuses on the improvement and modernization of T-90 and other tanks, rather than replacing them with Armatas’. It seems that there are no large-scale orders of the new tank in Russian ground forces.
    In the chapter on soft and sharp power resources author does not precisely indicate how one type of power undermines another type. Soft power is the power of attraction, while sharp power is the power of disruption. Does Russia have soft power over those countries and societies that identified Russia’s aims to disrupt their political systems and societies? I would argue that it does not. Simultaneously, the author stresses the importance of soft power in increasing its influence in the ex-soviet region. As a researcher living in the Baltic states, I would argue that Russia’s soft power is decreasing in the region for the last 30 years. Russia’s aggressive actions in Georgia and Ukraine undermine its soft power further. Russia is increasing its soft power in Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and elsewhere, in the states that are further from Russia and do not live with the daily threat. Russia’s soft power is possible for societies that avoided forced deportations and Soviet repressions. It remains unclear what Russia achieves through a combination of soft, hard, and sharp power and if such combination is effective.
    As mentioned, the author has a false assumption that growing Russia’s power capabilities increase its influence in the Baltic states. Russia remains the core determinant of foreign and security policies of the Baltic states, but its influence constantly decreases because the Baltic states are orientated to the EU, NATO, and the U.S. I would argue against the assumption that Russia has hegemony in the ex-soviet region. Regional hegemony is not only a matter of power. It is also a matter of prestige and acceptance of such position of the country by other states.
    The author faces the natural problem of shallow analysis/description when she briefly overviews Russian foreign policy with many countries. There are separate books on Russia’s relations with different regions and countries. It is difficult to significantly contribute to the existing literature, especially in such a short chapter.
    The last chapter of the book is the best part of it. It is solid, and I wanted it to go deeper and broader into the questions it raises. I would not mind if the last chapter was developed into a separate book. I would definitely buy it. It is unnecessary to focus on different types of power, and such focus sometimes seems too encyclopedic. Incorporating information on various instruments of power into the narrative of why Putin and his “sistema” are adopting one or another tool would be much more appealing. Such an approach would allow demonstrating links between Putin’s interests, which become Russia’s interests, and their realization, thus allowing to assess the effectiveness of those instruments.
    I was surprised by the repletion of the same information or similar sentences throughout the book. For example, on page 252, the author writes: “Most average Russians felt little sympathy for Khodorkovsky, Gusinsky, and Berezovsky, for example, who had made billions while most of the rest of society suffered the full financial brunt of the collapse of communism and Yeltsin’s uneven reforms.” On page 523, there is a sentence: “Most average Russians felt little sympathy for men who had made billions while most of society suffered the full financial brunt of the collapse of communism and Yeltsin’s uneven reforms.” It seems that the author or editor needed one last in-depth reading of the text before publishing.
    To sum up, it is a book worth reading to get on board with the broader context on the evolution of Russia’s power capabilities and subordination of Russian foreign and security policy for Vladimir Putin’s interests.
    29 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars Another rendition of Western ideology
    Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2022
    Unfortunately, the author does not understand (or misunderstands) Eastern European geopolitics and the drivers behind the Russian foreign policy more specifically. The author merely represents the established Western ideology and provides no articulation of opposing views, thus rendering the book's arguments rather ineffective. The author provides good statistics, but that is all.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Kindle Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars Decent, biased, incomplete
    Reviewed in Canada on April 2, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    The book often recycles EU, NATO and US talking points and ignores information from Western sources which contradicts the established narrative. For example, it skips over the financing and organization of the Euro-Maidan protesters completely; presenting the violence as one-sided (Putin’s orders, etc).

    In another place, the author deems Muslim members of a Russian-centered security organization are unlikely to intervene in Christian countries because she claims Muslim member countries would not fight other muslims…!
    I mean sure, everyone knows that Muslim countries never fight other Muslim countries… (sorry for the childish sarcasm there but the statement in the book is so completely ridiculous, it’s hard to take seriously)

    I would take this book as a good index of the many power struggles involving Russia and start exploring each one individually. But given the bias in some arguments and the occasional nonsensical statements, I wouldn’t use this thing as a definitive or even very credible source on the topic.
    But the author does mention many power struggles ignored by other sources… so take notes as you go along and explore further. Just don’t go about quoting this book as a reference: too many arguments in it are easily debunkable (by other western sources).
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